Heliacal Rising
by reallyhatebananas
Summary: Drama ensues when Victoria changes her mind about how best to get revenge on the coven that stole her mate. For a family of immortals, the past can be a dangerous thing. Meanwhile, Jacob finds his imprint in an unexpected place – and it isn't Edward Cullen. Jacob/Edward slash, some Bella/Edward. AU of Eclipse.
1. Chapter 1

_Hello! So my last foray into this fandom was kind of pathetic. This is my attempt to reintroduce myself to the idea of Twilight fanfiction, especially since it's been running through my head so often lately. I need brainpower for school, you know. This is my first try at writing a multi-chapter story, especially one that's in past tense. I normally stick with present. And short. Hopefully posting this isn't too big a mistake._

_Unbeta'd (though I do need one) and anything you recognize isn't mine. _

_Update: Thanks to lovely PTB authors smudgedcrimsonlipstick and Writting2StayHalfSane for beta'ing!_

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><p><span>Absolute Zero<span> – the lowest possible temperature, at which point the atoms of a substance transmit no thermal energy; they are completely at rest

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><p><strong>Chapter One<strong>

It was the last place he wanted to be.

Edward stood silently as the moon inched toward the ground, watching as a thin drizzle began to coat the grass and trees. Each individual raindrop acted as a mirror to his eyes, reflecting the forest at the edge of the clearing along with seven pale figures. The moon was unusually bright and when he looked at his family members, Edward could see faint starlight emanating from their skin. They looked like an ad for a damn Parisian modeling company with their meticulously styled designer outfits, courtesy of Alice.

Bella didn't wear designer clothes.

In all honesty, Edward's feelings about the girl were mixed. There was the guilt over leaving her, and loving her, and existing to blacken her life from the start. There was the ache originating somewhere near his heart caused by wanting her too much to breathe. And there was the fierce joy that somehow she loved him back.

The problem was that recently, Edward wasn't so sure of that fact. Bella had been flaunting her relationship with the wolf more and more over the past few weeks, either oblivious to or ignoring Edward's helpless rage. It seemed the only time Bella cared to be around him was when she was arguing about sex. If they were truly mates – if she loved him the way she claimed – then causing him pain in such a way would not be an option. There would be no choice to make, no rivals for her heart. The only feasible explanation was that he'd overestimated the strength of her love.

That was too painful a thought to consider.

Rather than confronting the girl, Edward had admitted to his jealousy once before shoving the whole thing aside. She would understand, or she would not. He'd had enough of watching as she ran to meet the dog, leaving Edward hopelessly on the sidelines. Pretending to approve at least gave him a semblance of grace. Recently, only at night did Edward feel that Bella and he were truly in accord, when he could hold her once more. She was always beautiful to his eyes.

And he was missing the next few hours of her sleep for a bunch of arrogant shapeshifters.

He could be with Bella, feeling almost human, her warmth distracting him from the burn as dawn broke. Sunlight on a vampire was like dry ice pressed to bare human skin and the sight of glimmering flesh disheartening to the extreme. It was like a constant whisper in the back of Edward's head, a reminder that he was not normal, that he was a freak, that he always would be.

For an immortal, _always_ was a very long time.

_Wonder what me an' Rosie'll do tonight… wanna try that new…_

…_seemed sincere, at least, though of course Edward claims they are untrustworthy… still, I do think we should believe the best of the Quileute tribe…_

The vampire sighed, fidgeting unnecessarily and running one hand through his hair. Carlisle had ordered that the entire coven adhere to the wolf pack's sudden request, calling a meeting at this ungodly hour. It would have been pointless to go against his sire's instructions in something as unimportant as this. Still, the man needed to stop giving in to their every whim and dragging the entire coven with him.

The seven Cullens now stood in a perfect line, like statues carved from rime. Edward was grateful, at least, that the boundary line between Quileute and Cullen territory was far in the wilderness, out of prying mortal eyes. Before leaving the house, he had not been required to dress the part, instead keeping on his jeans and plain black shirt. Shoes were nothing but a bother to a vampire, whose feet were strong enough to tear through the rubber soles within minutes. A jacket, too, was nothing but another layer of restriction for an undead body, which constantly longed for movement when saturated with the revitalizing powers of blood.

"Are they planning on coming anytime soon?"

Edward frowned, closing his eyes and attempting to make sense of the babble surrounding him. Each animal, each bird, each bug had a consciousness, though most were too simple to actually _hear_. The humans of Forks and La Push were also well within his range from his position by the border. Isolating one train of thought from the rest of his overcrowded mind, he listened hard.

"Yes, Rosalie. They're nearly here now."

The cacophony of the pack's thoughts, always on the edge of his perception, had been growing louder for quite some time. He would have had a terrible headache had Edward been human, and as it was a dull throbbing caused the edges of his vision to flicker. He struggled to contain the frustration welling up inside of him as he pictured the upcoming meeting with the contemptible Quileutes. Jasper, sensing his discomfort, sent a wave of calm through the clearing.

"God, Jasper, don't _do_ that," Rosalie snarled, wrapped tightly in the arms of her mate. Her mind was a tangle of irritation and ire. Meetings with the wolves always set her on edge. The vampire gripped the front of Emmett's red button-down shirt as if she wanted to tear it apart.

"Calm down, Rosalie," Edward said, rolling his eyes. "Jasper was only easing the tension. We all hate the mutts just as much as you do."

"Right. If that were true you wouldn't let them feel up that bitch you call a girlfriend."

Edward wasn't sure what it was about Rosalie Hale that had, for nearly a century, always been able to strip away his composure. He was able to fake patience for humans, wolves – hell, even Jacob Black – but something about the blonde vampire had always rendered him incapable of control. He growled and clenched his hands into fists, feeling his venom begin to thicken with increased pheromones.

_Always so easy to bait. God, Edward, you're like a teenager._

Before the thought had fully registered in Rosalie's mind, Edward launched himself straight toward her. His temper had been short lately, what with Bella's alternating detachment and clinginess, leaving him wondering often what exactly she _wanted_. If her goal was to drive him utterly mad, she was well on her way.

Solid arms wrapped around Edward's torso, the resulting crash like thunder. Edward breathed in the scent of Carlisle and felt himself begin to relax even as the two tumbled to the ground. Vampires smelled sweet even to each other, but the pheromones of one's creator had the strength of a drug. Carlisle had made use of this often during Edward's newborn years.

"Calm yourselves, children," the older vampire said, voice ringing like no human's could. Edward swayed slightly, momentarily overcome by the force of his sire's command. Carlisle was not his father – far from it. But Carlisle Cullen's venom was the basis of that which ran through Edward's veins, forging a connection that nothing could shake. With a growl, he shook off the vampire's arm as a foul stench wafted past him and Alice's vision went momentarily black.

They had company.

The shapeshifters of the Quileute tribe were far more human than they were supernatural. They had no magical powers or even highly increased senses in their natural form. Distracted by his rage, Edward had not noticed their approach, but now he glanced upwards to meet nine frightened pairs of eyes. Monster or not, the shifters were as susceptible to a vampire's aura as any mortal.

Right now, with the fury crackling between Edward and Rosalie, the Quileutes were literally shaking in their shoes.

Edward allowed himself a moment of vindictive pleasure, irritated with them for keeping him from Bella. Estranged or not, each moment with her was still precious. He stepped backwards as another wave of calm washed over the area, allowing Carlisle to speak for the family. There was no need for a translator this time, as the wolves had come as humans, fully dressed with no intention to phase.

Briefly, Edward wondered at the change. The Quileutes had been adamant in their refusal to be vulnerable in their last group meeting. Their thoughts, running rampant through Edward's head, gave nothing away as they were wild and untamed. Each individual was focused on a different issue, mostly self-involved. Clearly, nothing of great importance had happened.

The only thing keeping Edward in the clearing at all – apart from Carlisle's will – was the large box that was held between two of the wolves. Clumsily wrapped by the postal service, it gave off a foul stench mixed with some other, more tempting aroma.

Werewolves were so damn _slow_, Edward thought, as the alpha male opened his mouth. The man had only just processed the sight of the Cullens. Their actions and thoughts were several milliseconds behind those of the vampires, as if each group existed in a different reality. It was exhausting trying to keep track of each set of minds as they moved at different speeds, like a human watching two motion pictures at once.

"Samuel," Carlisle said gently, thoughts abuzz with confusion over the entire situation. "I was under the impression that these meetings were an inconvenience to your tribe. I must admit, I am curious as to the hurried nature of this one."

Not accusing. Never that. Edward did admire the patience his vampire father was able to show, but it could also be a source of great danger. The Quileutes were unscrupulous, willing to use any kindness to their advantage when it came to the coven of bloodsuckers down the road.

Sam Uley frowned and mentally sifted through the events of the day. He was truly concerned for his tribe. For all his hatred of wolves, Edward had to admit that the man was a kind and just leader. He reminded him of a human Carlisle, free of the vices that came with immortality.

It took six seconds for the alpha to speak. Edward could have killed him a hundred times over out of pure frustration. Humans were quite exasperatingly sluggish – then again, the whole world seemed that way when compared with a vampire's speed. Ironic, really, as they were the only ones who had forever to get things done.

And now – _finally!_ – Uley was ready.

"Earlier this morning some of the pack was out on patrol when they found this." He gestured towards the mail-order box, thoughts tinged with curiosity and a slight wariness. "It smells funny, definitely, and there's a – "

"Has leech scent all over it, too," Jacob Black piped up from his side. Apparently, he was as eager as Edward for the meeting to be over. The vampire hissed as the other boy's eyes slid in his direction.

"Yeah, that too, so we wanted it gone as soon as possible. Anyway, the box was addressed to a Cullen. I've got to say, we don't appreciate being dragged into your affairs."

Sam's gaze lingered on Edward, who glowered. He'd learned long ago that showing restraint was futile when it came to shifters, who were incapable of registering anything short of a punch. As expected, three of the wolves – Paul and Quil, Edward gleaned from their thoughts, as well as Jacob – were only too willing to glare back at him.

The others were still talking. Edward jerked his gaze from the Quileutes' and accessed the section of his brain that had been listening from the beginning. Carlisle had apologized for the inconvenience – unsurprisingly – and asked to examine the mysterious package. The werewolves handed it over at a nod from their leader, exposing the writing at the top.

_Deliver to an Edward A. Cullen._

Edward felt the beginnings of mild curiosity, amplified by the thoughts of those around him. Vampires didn't often get mail.

_What do you think, son? Could the sender be a danger to us?_

Glancing up to meet Carlisle's eyes, Edward shrugged. "I really can't say. It's only a box. I suppose we should open it, but it's your decision."

"I don't know if that's the best idea," Esme said quietly, slim fingers worrying at the hem of her dark green blouse. It seemed they'd all picked up some more human habits. "We don't know what's in there. That package could be dangerous."

"Please. Whatcha afraid of – bombs? I think we're pretty much indestructible."

Edward was inclined to agree with Emmett's statement, which was accompanied by a vague sense of amusement. He was imagining that the box was mail-order from a company that was a favorite of his and Rosalie's, one that specialized in adult oriented _toys_. Emmett pictured Edward leaping backwards in shock as the garish objects tumbled into his hands. Edward snickered at his brother's antics but tried harder to force the thoughts away, pulling himself into the tangible present.

"That may be true, Emmett, but they aren't." Carlisle's gaze traveled toward the wolves, who seemed offended by his concern.

"Thank god." One of the shifters sneered. "Wouldn't want to be a fu – "

"That's _enough_," Sam said sharply, eyes dark as he glared his pack down. He then turned back to the Cullens and snapped, "Our safety is none of your business. We came all the way here – might as well get a look at what's inside."

Edward began to feel strange, as if the entire conversation had been scripted beforehand. Something was off about the entire scenario. It was automatic to start breathing through his nose, tasting the flavor of the air to determine a threat – predator's instinct come out in full force.

Carlisle battled internally for a moment before sighing unnecessarily and handing the box to Edward, who took it with a grimace of distaste. The smell was disgusting – it reminded him of hospitals and rotting death and bodies in the ground. Unwilling to saturate himself with the scent entirely, Edward gripped the package one-handed and glanced up at his sire, irritation plain in his eyes. There was no need to put on a show for the wolves. They were merely pushing to see how far Carlisle would go to appease them.

_I'm sorry, Edward, but the lack of privacy is something we've all gotten used to. I trust you're not about to open up something embarrassing or… incriminating._

The feeling of _wrong_ increased.

Edward scowled. "I didn't – oh, never mind." The thin tape holding the cardboard together had begun to squeal ominously. He noted that the box must weigh just shy of three hundred pounds. A human would have been crushed beneath it. The tape snapped, and Edward's other hand shot out to ease the package to the ground. He released it and took two rapid steps back.

_What is he – ?_

"I don't like this," Edward said softly, eyes locked on the large cardboard box. He felt the gazes of vampires and werewolves alike burning into him. Something far too familiar was in that box. Something he… knew. "That scent, I recognize that scent."

Alice frowned, leaning back into her mate. She had been unusually quiet all day, struggling with her visions as she did every so often. Mental gifts could be hard to control. "Edward. I don't think you should open this."

Before Carlisle could respond, Jacob barked out a laugh. Internally, he whispered, _C'mon, leech, you afraid of a big bad box? That's sad even for you._

Edward met his eyes calmly, ignoring the familiar rush of rage at the dog's taunts. Vampires were good at hiding emotions, even when their thoughts ran red with the need to tear someone apart.

"Fine." He didn't know who he was answering – Carlisle, Jacob, or any of the rest – only that it didn't quite matter. Edward did not believe in showing weakness. Not for the first time, he pushed his gut feeling aside and knelt before the box.

A vampire's instincts are always right.

With unnatural strength and hard-as-rock fingertips, it was easy to slit the box from end to end.

It was also easy to watch through the shock-tinged minds of others as Edward stumbled backwards in horror, eyes fixed on what was inside.

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><p><em>Good job for getting past the lengthy non-dialogue parts! Edward thinks way too much. We all know that. He's also really hard to nail. Did I get his characterization anywhere near right? Anyway, this chapter is more of a teaser to see if anyone's actually interested, and if it's worth continuing.<em>


	2. Chapter 2

_Deepest thanks to my reviewers. And Howl3, my lovely pre-reader. You guys inspired me to write this chapter! Anyway, this was a really hard scene to write. Edward was having tantrums and refusing to cooperate. Unbeta'd and previous disclaimer applies._

_The song I had on repeat for this chapter was Infinite White by Steve Jablonsky. _

_Just to be clear, this story has slash. SLASH. Two guys. To be honest, it'll be the furthest thing possible from graphic because a) I wouldn't know how to write that and b) I don't particularly want to. Lemons aren't really my thing. Anyway, I have no patience with homophobes._

_Update: Huge thanks to PTB betas smudgedcrimsonlipstick and MyCaptainRaydor for editing this chapter._

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><p><span>Big Bang<span> – 1. a theory offered by cosmologists related to the early development of the universe; 2. any sudden forceful beginning or radical change

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><p><strong>Chapter Two<strong>

A hundred years. It had been one hundred years since he had last seen their faces.

Influenza had brought a quick and painful death. There had been no last moment for the family as a whole, no time for a final goodbye. They had been plucked away, one by one, and the dank, crowded hospitals of the era had not allowed visitations between wards. The buildings had been teeming with illness, and doctors had hoped to keep the sickness from spreading into an epidemic. Their optimism had been misplaced. His memories of the time were hazy, but Edward knew his father had passed away first, weeks before he and his mother were even admitted. Edward remembered that a priest had come to take his last confession and perform the final rites. He had been unable to speak. The influenza had clogged up his lungs, and it was all he could do to fight for air through a sore and bleeding throat. The holy man had left shortly after arrival.

The final symptom of the sickness was the foul taste of iron and rust, coating the mouth and throat, and Edward fell into unconsciousness with the coppery flavor of blood still thick on his tongue. When he next woke, he had been cursed to crave blood forevermore.

A century, and now… to see them like this, corpses rotting away in a damn cardboard box – maggots eating away at their eyes, their teeth and bones askew, fine clothes a mockery of what they had once been –

His parents would have been ashamed of what he had become. Edward knew that well. Remembering his father, with his coldly logical views, and his mother's flawless society charms, he knew they would have despised him and everything for which he stood.

Monsters and destruction – a living, breathing nightmare.

Edward realized that his eyes were closed. It did not matter. The thoughts of the others created a mindless haze of confusion in his head. His rage was long gone, irritation at the wolves cast aside. For once, Bella Swan was not even on his mind. His entire being was fixated on the sight before him, the image now etched into the back of his skull, repeated a thousand times over in the crystallized tissues of his mind. Vampire memory was flawless and eternal.

He would never, _could_ never, forget a single thing.

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><p>Jacob clearly saw the moment Cullen transformed from animal to human. The vampire had been savage and snarling, as he always was outside of Bella's weak restraints. He had obviously been inches from tearing the wolves apart, just like they fought against the urge to shift.<p>

The Quileutes and the Cullens existed on either side of a thin, but deadly, line. Bella Swan had no clue what she was doing when she asked them all to coexist. They weren't meant for that – it was against their very natures.

Here, deep in the forest, the animal side of the bloodsuckers held more sway than any humanity that was left. Jacob watched as Edward Cullen handled the heavy box with an ease that looked out of place against the backdrop of a pale, slender boy. It had taken two over-muscled werewolves to lift the same weight. Vampires were wrong, abominations of nature, bizarre amounts of power and strength forced into a fragile human form.

They should not exist.

When Cullen leaned over and caught sight of the package's contents, a subtle change took place in him. It was very clear to Jacob's werewolf eyes. A human would only have sensed the difference in aura, a lessening of the tension and fear that had no clear explanation. Jacob the wolf saw the way the Cullen boy's eyes widened, turning soft and warm. An empty sort of darkness and cruelty, always visible in the vampire's black stare, melted away to be replaced by something human, something real.

Pain. Pain and hurt and love.

How could a vampire feel?

Jacob watched, confused, as Edward Cullen wrenched away from whatever was inside the box and stumbled back. His blond 'brother' caught him with one arm, as the leeches let out a collective hiss. Curious at what could sand away the monster's edge, Jacob leaned forward to peer inside the box. He felt wolves on either side of him doing the same.

No wonder the package had been so heavy, Jacob marveled. Filling it from corner to corner was what looked like the bottom half of a coffin. It was a plain affair with splintering wood, lined in rough cloth, and filled with –

Oh.

The bodies of a man and woman were crowded inside the box. They had to be decades old – enough flesh had been eaten away to make the scene something from a horror movie. They were mostly unrecognizable; only the woman's bright hair and the male's old-fashioned watch chain were well-preserved.

"What the _hell_ is this?" Edward Cullen had slipped out of the blond's grasp and now leaned dangerously close to the border line. His eyes were beginning to ice over again, the brief moment of vulnerability forgotten. The hatred in them was aimed directly at the Quileutes. "I swear to God, if you had anything to do with this – "

Jacob wasn't usually intimidated by the bloodsucker, but this time was different. He looked ready to kill.

"We didn't," Sam said cautiously. He looked wary, for once trying not to further upset the mercurial vampire. His voice had taken on the soothing quality that made Jacob clench his teeth. "Edward, you know our minds. We had no idea what was in the box."

Paul, standing right behind Jake, sneered. "So it's a couple of corpses. Big deal. You're killers, I'm sure you've seen worse – "

Cullen positively howled with rage, lunging at the wolf. His sibling, the female blonde, caught the vampire around the wrist and pulled him back with a yank. Her oversized mate joined the fray and pinned his brother's arms to his sides with the sound of crashing thunder. Everything took place too quickly for Jacob's human eyes or brain to process, but his wolf side kept careful track of the leeches and their distance from the border. Edward was still raging, less controlled than Jacob had ever seen him. It took both the vampires to keep him still, murmuring too quietly for the shifters to hear.

"You idiot," the fortuneteller growled, eyes so wild that Seth stepped back a foot, "those _corpses _are – were – Edward's parents."

There was a general air of surprise on the Quileute side of the line. Paul shuffled his feet, looking as apologetic as was possible for him. Leah raised an eyebrow – before going wolf, she'd been intrigued by the ever-elusive Cullens, and Jared's face went pale.

"That's sick, man," Quil breathed.

Jacob felt briefly uncomfortable. He didn't like to think of his rival as having once been a human, someone Jacob was sworn to protect. It made him feel... guilty, somehow. In a way, weren't vampires just the manifestation of his pack's failure to preserve their lives? They could have been saved. Pushing the thoughts aside, he glanced down at the bodies. There wasn't enough left of them to make out many defining traits, but Jacob decided that the woman's copper-coated hair was very similar to Cullen's, if a bit lighter than her son's. The man's was dark brown.

The pair had died very young. Jacob felt an odd surge of curiosity, wondering how old Edward Cullen actually was when he had been bitten and frozen in time. It was hard to tell with vampires – their faces were smooth and ageless, any excess fat stripped away and bone structure perfected. Edward looked young, though; he couldn't quite pass for twenty like some of his siblings could.

There was the squeal of metal on stone and a shout of pain. The brawny vampire – Emmett, Jacob thought – fell back, clutching his own arm. "What the hell, Edward!" he shouted, looking more offended than actually hurt. "Why'd ya have to _bite_?"

The blond female was distracted, turning to assess her mate, and let go of Edward's wrist. Jacob's breath caught in his throat as the vampire blurred forward. He was so angry, if he attacked – Sam had ordered them all not to phase. There would be no way to defend themselves in time. The other werewolves seemed to be thinking along those lines, stumbling backwards. Embry's foot caught on a loose piece of tape, tripping when the cardboard box refused to budge.

The flash of white solidified into Cullen as he knelt beside the box.

They had panicked for nothing. Edward Cullen had no interest in the group of shapeshifters. Jacob felt the dull flush of embarrassment settle over his face, watching the leech stare down at his… well. His parents. His eyes were dark and aching again. It was a strange thing to see in the normally unaffected vampire. Jacob wondered if he would be crying, if that weren't impossible for his kind.

Behind the solitary figure, the Cullens had closed ranks. Jacob thought he heard one of them whisper, faint like the brush of wind through the trees. Everything the bloodsuckers did was quiet and dreamlike.

"_We will allow him this_."

Jacob glanced at his alpha. Sam looked uncomfortable – they all were, really. It seemed wrong to intrude on what seemed to be such a painful thing for the youngest Cullen. Then again, the vampires were monsters. And monsters deserved no compassion or respect.

"Maybe we should go." Seth's voice was hushed. Edward hadn't moved from where he crouched, staring down at the bodies. His hair shimmered red over his forehead, only adding to the unearthly sight. The way he cocked his head, the unnatural balance – Jacob would never understand how the Cullens passed as normal. Everything vampires did had a raw, animal grace.

"No. We stay," Sam ordered.

The pack may have been in human form, but they were familiar with each other's thoughts. Jacob knew that Sam had insisted the wolves stay not because of any real curiosity, but to test the vampires, see how far they would bend before they broke. Carlisle Cullen was desperate to keep the treaty intact.

Would this be the turning point?

The Cullens definitely looked angry enough. They probably still thought that Sam had known about the package's contents beforehand. The blond coven leader narrowed his eyes as Edward stood, turning to face his family. Jacob smelled the poisonous tang of the vampire's increasing pheromones. It made his wolf shudder and fight to escape.

"You said that they died of the influenza." Edward's voice was quiet and very, very wrong. Too smooth, too cadenced, as similar to a human's as water to rich wine. "You said her death was natural."

"Edward – "

The vampire continued as if there had been no interruption. "Why, then, does my mother have a broken neck?"

"Jasper," Carlisle whispered, eyes flickering between the coffin and his son. "Jasper, I would like you to do it now, please."

Edward was clearly growing hysterical. He spun around again to look down at his parents as if he were trying to imprint the scene into his skull. The vampire was mere feet from the wolves, closer to them than his own clan – only the box was between him and Quileute territory. Jacob saw the seer's mate, the one with the scars, close his eyes in concentration. Edward swayed, and in what seemed like a sudden haze of exhaustion, his eyes wavered and body went limp.

One of the wolves gave a soft "oh" of surprise as the vampire slumped toward the ground.

Years later Jacob still remembers this moment, still unfolds and twists it around in his head. He does not, and never will, understand why he made this particular choice. All he knows is that it set in motion a long chain of events. Still, knowing the outcome, he looks back and wouldn't change a thing.

In every scenario Jacob can imagine, he reaches forward and catches Edward Cullen as he falls, swinging him easily into his arms.

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><p>Jacob stood frozen for a moment, the vampire held awkwardly against his chest. He was surprisingly light. His packmates were staring at him with expressions ranging from amusement to shock. They were clearly all wondering the same thing.<p>

What the hell was he thinking?

Jacob wasn't sure. The best answer that he could come up with was lingering sympathy over the vampire's obvious grief. He had loved his parents. Jacob could understand that. It made the bloodsucker seem almost – human.

Leah snickered, turning away, as Jacob tried to cover his embarrassment with a scowl. He looked up in time to see the small fortuneteller giving him an appraising look.

"Thank you for your concern, Jacob," she chimed. "But it really would have been all right to let Edward fall. You know, we aren't exactly fragile."

"Yeah, I know," Jacob said gruffly, feeling more stupid by the minute. For a moment, he considered just dropping the vampire, before deciding that it would anger the rest. Besides, the damage had been done. He watched as the scarred male slipped to – to _Alice's_ side and wrapped a possessive hand around her waist, eyes pointedly fixed on the boy in Jacob's arms. The werewolf found, to his surprise, that he couldn't quite move.

Sam sighed, his face a mix of sternness and some other emotion, one that Jacob couldn't quite read. It looked like – was he trying not to laugh? "I'd suggest that you hand Edward to his family now, Jake. You know, he's technically over the line."

Oh. _Shit_.

Jacob shoved Edward away from him so quickly that he almost lost his balance. The blond leech caught his brother more easily than Jake had, draping one of the unconscious vampire's arms around his neck. He stared at the werewolves for a full second before speaking.

"Carlisle, Edward's fighting hard against me. It'll be hard to sedate him much longer. I'd appreciate knowing exactly _why_ I'm doing so, anyway."

The motherly one nodded, the picture of concern. Somehow, she always seemed less savage than the rest. "Yes, dear, I had thought we weren't using that sort of force anymore. Surely you could have just spoken to Edwa – "

"I had my reasons," the coven leader murmured. His eyes were pensive, fixed on Sam. "I will explain as much as possible when we return to the house and Edward can be awoken, trust me. Emmett, if you would carry the… unwelcome delivery?"

The brawny vampire grimaced in disgust, stepping forward to lift the heavy box. His blonde mate didn't look so beautiful when her face contorted from the smell.

Sam inhaled once, sharply, like he was preparing to order the pack to leave. He was interrupted by the head vampire, who still seemed lost in thought.

"I would truly appreciate it if this incident were not mentioned again," Carlisle said quietly. "Especially in the company of my son. As you can see, it will not bring out the best of reactions from him. I'm sure you can understand." The tone of his voice turned the order into a request.

The alpha looked back at the pack with a warning in his eyes. Not once did Jake regret allowing him to keep the position – Sam was a better leader than he could ever hope to be. "That's fine. We'll keep it under wraps. Not like we see a lot of each other, anyway."

The wind picked up and Jacob blinked, and the vampires were gone.

The presence of the Cullens always seemed to freeze the werewolves into silence, like Novocain spread on their teeth and their tongues. It seemed wrong, somehow, to talk in the company of such alien creatures. Now that they had left, the group melted into laughter and jokes.

"Dude," Embry guffawed. "You _picked him up_! Like, bridal style! What the hell were you thinking?"

"I'm not sure," Jacob defended himself, ears turning red as he remembered the light press of the vampire's body against his. "I wasn't, I guess."

"Damn right, you weren't." Paul's eyes were wide. "When you touched the leech – gross, by the way – you brought him over the line. Y'know, we could say they broke the treaty," he added hopefully.

Sam had been quiet, allowing the wolf pack to have their fun, but now he frowned and signaled for the group to phase. "You know that would be ridiculous. Jake's actions brought Edward onto our land. The Cullens have done nothing wrong."

There was a collective sigh of disappointment as the Quileutes began to undress, preparing for the run home.

Leah, who had been ignoring them up until now, smirked. "It's not like we should punish them for that heartwarming display," she said, unbuttoning her shorts. "After all, Cullen looked pretty… cute… in Jacob's arms. I thought it was sweet."

Jacob scowled, but she had already phased, leaving him glaring at a horse-sized wolf instead. With a growl, he yanked off his own shorts. As one, the entire pack broke into a trot, gradually speeding up as they headed toward La Push.

Meanwhile, in the farthest corners of his head where even pack-mind couldn't reach, Jacob was running through the memories of the brief moment he held Edward Cullen – willingly, voluntarily. He imagined that he could still feel the vampire against him. He didn't quite understand what had changed, but _something_ definitely had. The werewolf felt like someone had reached inside of him and jumbled all the pieces.

It was as if Edward's coolness, his weight, had been permanently marked into Jake's very skin.

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><p><em>I can't seem to get into Jacob's head. I'm making him as likeable as possible because canon Jake annoys the hell out of me. Anyway.<em>

_Until next time!_


	3. Chapter 3

_I really am sorry for the obscene amount of time you've had to wait. Believe it or not, I never did forget about this story. In fact, with how utterly boring school can be, I've spent many classes writing scenes in my head. The problem is that I have NO CLUE how to write a plot and can't seem to make up my mind on anything. There are about twenty versions of this story in my head right now. Gack. You should know, though, that I won't desert it and will always continue updating, no matter how long it takes. _

_Anyway, this and the next chapter were originally going to be one which means next chapter's at least partially written. It should be up within the next couple of days if I still have internet access. Have you guys heard about Hurricane Sandy? It's hitting tonight and I'm praying we don't lose electricity, which happens way too often. Cross your fingers, people!_

_Update: This chapter was edited by wonderful PBT betas Twimarti and hammondgirl. Thank you! _

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><p><span>Extraterrestrial<span> – occurring or existing beyond the earth's atmosphere

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><p><strong>Chapter Three<strong>

The sun had almost risen by the time Edward reached the Swan residence. It had taken longer than usual to arrive because of the exhaustion still coursing through his veins, and he had been forced to stop for rest twice. The familiar burning sensation as light hit glimmering flesh was a proverbial dump into icy water and offered up a few minutes of clarity before the fatigue began to set in once more.

The false calm, however, remained. It was helpful in allowing Edward to bite back anger at his warlord brother and his sire when he thought about the way they had restrained him. He had not been angry enough to warrant the intervention. He had been shocked and horrified, yes, but not unduly so. Besides, the reactions were temporary and any anger had already faded. Few things were enough to rile a vampire into attacking its sire. Fewer lent one the strength to ignore the urge to submit, and minor conflicts within covens were not one of them.

Any buried mystery over humans a hundred years dead should have remained so.

The small blue door leading into the house elicited its usual mixed reaction in Edward – pain and love and desire and fear. Documented, registered, and then put away. Things in his unlife seemed to grow more categorical with every year. Bella Swan had at first seemed irregular and unique, but soon had been sucked into Edward's routine like all else. It was necessary to keep things clear and emotion-free, because otherwise they would overwhelm him. A structure could not support itself if the walls were unstable. Besides, humans may have been ruled by their feelings, but they were weak and temporary. Something as powerful and eternal as a vampire had no right to live in its own head.

The front door began to emit a small creak as Edward pushed it forward. Quickly, he changed the angle and allowed the nails to push deeper into the wood, silencing the noise. Charlie Swan was a light sleeper. He'd often given Edward a shock by awakening during the night, perfectly alert and positive that an intruder had entered the house – rarely used cop instincts coming into play. The vampire was sometimes hard-pressed to avoid detection. Forks' police chief was fully aware of the danger surrounding Edward, certain that there was something blatantly _wrong_ about his daughter's boyfriend. Edward had taken to wearing long sleeves around Bella's house, worried that Charlie's sharp eyes might pick out the bite-sized scars trailing around his neck, shoulder, and wrist. Jasper was careful to avoid the man altogether. There was little the Cullens needed less than a visit from the admittedly small police force, and Carlisle certainly wouldn't take well to being questioned. He resented most forms of authority after being raised to follow God's will alone.

On an average day, it took Edward five and a half seconds to traverse the house, check each window for broken locks, cracks, and any stray insects that might have crept inside, and make his way into Bella's room undetected. He didn't particularly enjoy watching the girl sleep these days – half the time she murmured Jacob's name instead of his, and the smell, that goddamned _smell_ got harder to resist every day. Contrary to what he had told her, thinking he had lost Isabella Swan had done nothing to dull her scent. It glistened white hot around her sleeping form, practically visible to the vampire as he crept into the room.

Edward watched her, a pretty girl wrapped in sheets and a quilt. To him she glowed like a supernova, radiating beauty and life. His infallible vampire eyes could no longer be trusted, not after falling prey to petty things like emotions. She was gorgeous, flawless, breathtaking. She brought out the worst in him; he loved her and she made him angry and confused. It was a dangerous thing when one could crush metal and stone with his bare hands. Edward thought back to his vigilante years, remembering the cycle of anger and desperate need that was standard between an abuser and spouse. The similarities between those situations and their own unsettled him, though the roles weren't quite clear. In this scenario, who controlled who? Edward was tightly wound around Bella's little finger, and she – well, he could no longer pretend to understand her intentions.

The sun gleamed off his mockery of skin, leaving him tingling and uneasy. Daylight was not deadly as the old vampire lore suggested, but it unsettled nonetheless, sent sparks dancing beneath his skin and across the baby-blue walls.

He felt odd, out of place, a vampire in a human's room. He hadn't even been invited inside.

"'dward…?" The whisper felt out of place in the lightening room. Edward glanced down to the human beside him as she breathed out and yanked the sheets over her head. The puff of warm air made his head spin, made his throat ache, made him more human than he had been in a very long time. That was how it always worked. She breathed out, he breathed in. This was love – it had to be.

The vampire sat still on the edge of the narrow bed, watching as Bella squirmed awake beneath the coverlet. Her heart beat a rhythm in his ears and echoed around the small room. She fumbled with the sheets before sitting up, eyes skittering around the room then landing on Edward and growing affectionate, warm. Edward felt the tension inside him begin to unwind as she leaned forward and put her hands on his face. Today was a good day. Today she loved him.

Her eyes still heavy from sleep, Bella pressed her mouth against his and smiled, kissed him with closed lips – she had this thing about brushing her teeth in the mornings, as though she had to make herself perfect when she already was. Edward kissed her back and felt stardust collecting in the spaces where their bodies pressed together, felt the thoughts from before melt away as she breathed out and he breathed in. He'd been wrong, of course: this _was_ worth it. This was perfect and right, he loved her so, so much, and nothing could ever make that change.

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><p>Her father wasn't quite as enamored of Edward as Bella was, so he left to afford her courtesy as she dressed and to give her breakfast time with Charlie Swan. Edward tried to tamp down the automatic hatred whenever he heard the man's title. <em>Chief<em> implied that one was in a position of control, not completely out of the loop when it came to the monsters inhabiting the town. It was utterly unfair, of course, to blame him for being just like the rest of them – all human, all gullible and blind. Still, he felt a sort of quiet satisfaction at the way the man's pulse went into overdrive when Edward knocked on the front door.

_God. Him._ "What?" Charlie snapped, refusing to look the vampire in the eye. The steaming cup of coffee in one hand was almost sufficient to block out the sharp tang of adrenaline. The police chief was busy trying to convince himself that the discomfort he felt in Edward's presence was nothing more than mandatory hatred of his daughter's boyfriend.

Edward grinned, listening as Bella muttered to herself in the next room and checked the homework in her binder. With a single expression or threatening move, he could transform the man's uneasiness into outright fear. It was a tempting thought. Policemen, werewolves, all those so-called protectors of the human race – where had they been when the Cullens were human, when their lives and souls had been ripped out one by one? Asleep at the job?

"Let's go, Edward," Bella said, brushing past her father and grabbing Edward's hand. She really was remarkably loving today. The wolves hadn't been mentioned once. Edward was almost afraid to breathe, unwilling to break the spell. He resisted the urge to squeeze her hand tightly – break her, he would break her – and instead nodded, following her out to the car. The sun was stronger than usual today, but there was enough cloud cover that skipping could not be justified. Carlisle preferred that they attend school whenever possible.

"I talked to Jacob last night," Bella began as Edward turned the key in the ignition and the engine started up. The acrid smell of burning rubber and fuel almost served to distract him from her heavy scent in the enclosed space of the car. "He sounded kind of… weird. Didn't really say much."

Well, there went his dog-free day.

Edward turned to her, not bothering to watch the road. It had been engrained in his memory from day one. He had been with Bella all evening at her request, and she'd never once used the outdated phone line. From the way the cord had smelled this morning, it hadn't conducted electricity for weeks. She could have plugged it into the wall when he'd left her to dress – only the scent of plastic wasn't on her. Besides, she'd said _last night_. "You used your cell phone?"

"Yeah, he seemed kind of – wait," she said, the beginning of a scowl forming on her lovely face as she registered his tone. "What is it?"

Edward mentally checked to make sure he wasn't glaring and turned his eyes to the road. It didn't matter that she'd refused a cell phone for weeks, that she hadn't spoken for a day when he'd bought one against her fervent protests. It didn't matter that all he'd wanted was a way to easily contact her and she'd ignored most of his calls in a silent protest but used it in a heartbeat to speak with Jacob Black. "Nothing," he said quietly, unwilling to start a fight. They still had the entire day ahead of them. "Go on, Bella."

Whatever anger she'd been feeling quickly abated as she went on to describe her concern over Jacob's well-being. Edward found it harder than expected to concentrate on her voice. Her scent washed over him in waves of burning air and left him utterly distracted. Jasper's intervention from last night had left traces of exhaustion in his system. Suddenly the thirst was hard to control again, as it had been in the beginning. He might as well have been listening to Bella speak on a slow-motion tape.

The school day passed in a sort of haze, faces and voices looming up out of the fog. Edward had forgotten what it was to be tired, and he hadn't been able to sleep it off for decades. The last time Jasper had forcibly sedated him was twenty-three years ago when Emmett and he had broken half their bones. They had jumped off a sheer mountainside on mutual dares, and apparently some heights were too far for even vampire physiology to withstand. Edward would have to remind his older brother that such extreme amounts of false calm weren't necessary in the future.

The fatigue fully wore off around lunchtime when anger shoved any remnants aside as Mike Newton scooted up close to Bella's seat. She glanced quickly at her boyfriend, who was staring down at the table and measuring the distance between each microscopic grain in the wood. Edward gritted his teeth as the idiotic human asked Bella on a date with his own curly-haired girlfriend mere feet away.

"What?" she responded, using the same tone that was usually reserved for Edward when he insulted Jacob Black. "Mike, are you serious? Jessica's _right there_."

It wasn't lost on the vampire that her cheeks burned with pink and her heartbeat thudded despite her words – all normal, involuntary human reactions to any sort of advances. If Edward hadn't been there in the first place, Bella might have dated this boy. She might have eventually fallen in love and been married and would have kept her blush until the day she died.

She would have had a life without the specter of vampirism hanging over her head.

Unaware of his thoughts, Bella was sitting quietly beside him and reached underneath the table to grasp his hand. Edward closed his eyes at her warm touch, trying not to think. He couldn't quite understand her these days. Why was she at her most affectionate when surrounded by others? Their love couldn't just be a show to her. Bella was nothing like the other humans, who were shallow to a frightening degree. Then again, if asked to choose between himself and Jacob, she nearly always ran off with the werewolf, returning hours later to bleat out a halfhearted apology or guilt him into doing so. Was this really how a relationship should work, both sides hurting and tearing at each other until they broke and bled to death? Maybe she couldn't be hurt anymore, though, not by him. Sometimes it no longer seemed like she cared, apart from the issues of immortality and eternal beauty. Maybe he should talk to Bella, see where she really stood.

The thoughts of his classmates assaulted him as something roused their attention. Edward glanced around to see a generic black-haired senior in a muscle tank leaning across the table. Ridiculous, it was thirty-eight degrees out. It took the vampire a moment to notice that all minds were on him, and another to realize the boy had asked him something.

"Sorry?" Edward asked politely, after trying and failing to read the question from the human's mind. His thoughts were focused entirely on the strange allure and dazzling presence of an infamous Cullen.

"I… uh… we were just saying how funny it is, what's happening in Seattle. Why it just stopped and st-stuff," the boy stammered, initial bravado in trying to include Edward long gone. To the excitement-starved small town folk of Forks, a family like the Cullens was akin to a group of celebrities. They were dangerous, mysterious, rock stars in disguise.

They were also more than capable of cold-blooded murder. Humans were idiots. They deserved to be eaten, all of them, by Darwin's theory alone.

Running through what the boy had said, Edward responded more sharply than intended. "_What_ just stopped in Seattle?" His mind was racing, cataloguing and framing different scenarios, and he barely noticed the poor boy who was by now scared out of his wits.

"Um, just, the murders and killings and everything. Haven't been any since last week," the human said, bravely fighting his way through the pheromones that the vampire was radiating. The conversation had by now attracted the attention of the entire table. Edward was oblivious.

Victoria had stopped?

That was a scenario that he had not expected. There was only one feasible explanation, and he didn't want to think it through now. Not here, with Bella and a hundred other humans waiting for him to snap and throw a table through the wall.

It was eight minutes before the bell and Edward was tired of sitting in the lunchroom like a grade-school human. Alice had stayed home, and for a lone vampire in a room crowded with very human classmates, enough was enough. Ignoring the stares of the talking delicacies, Edward grabbed Bella by the wrist and gently tugged her from her seat. He had to forcibly restrain himself from moving at unrealistic speeds until they'd walked through the cafeteria doors.

"Edward," she gasped as he pushed her up against a locker. The florescent lights gave a bluish cast to her face. For a moment she looked like the monster she longed to one day become, all white skin and icy eyes.

Edward didn't kiss her, only pressed her hand to his lips and drank in the scent of her blood. She was alive. Bella was alive. It was strange how dark his thoughts had been today. Maybe the sight of his former parents last night had affected him more than it should. They were just ghosts from the past.

They belonged to his long forgotten human life, and Edward Masen was no more.

He was a Cullen now, and Edward Cullen loved Isabella Swan more than anything else in the world. He remembered his decision from lunch, to talk to her about her recent chilliness, and cursed his own selfishness. Bella would give up her life for him. He knew that. He was a monster who would take and take until she had nothing left at all. How could he begrudge her time with Jacob, immortality, anything she ever wanted no matter how much it hurt? He could do nothing but offer her the world on a silver platter and bask in the glory of her light.

Edward let the smell of her blood seep into his body and soothe everything that had ever ached for her warmth.

The doors opened again and Angela Weber stepped through. Edward and Bella guiltily jumped apart. She barely glanced at the two, staring down at her math notes as if immersed in them, but her thoughts told a different story. She was worried, upset about something. The vampire made an effort to ignore her, only possible because Bella's proximity took up so much of his attention. Angela had never done much to earn his respect. She had a good heart but was so obsessed with conforming that she rarely let it show. Whatever her troubles were, he didn't give a damn.

"We should go to class, Bella," he said quietly, avoiding her eyes. The sight of her friend would have reminded Bella of her wish to be a vampire and Edward's staunch refusal. The sudden chill emanating from her told him more than enough. Edward watched her nod and walk away, stubborn in her insistence that she become an immortal monster. Her soul for smooth skin and bloody hands and a thousand years of ice.

She was insistent on throwing away the only thing he'd ever truly wanted, and sometimes it seemed like there was no way to explain to her just how much that hurt.

He really should talk to her, Edward decided as he headed toward his own next period class. He would explain his reasoning – again – and this time she would understand and she would love him once more. Edward thought back to the way she'd brushed him aside when he'd admitted to jealousy over Jacob, how she'd laughed and ignored his words like they really meant nothing to her. It couldn't be that she thought their love was above such petty things as that. She'd certainly been unhappy to hear of a possible rival in Tanya. Her feelings had merit. His own did not.

Later, he decided. He would talk to her later.

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><p><em>Sorry about all the Bedward. I'm trying to not make this one of those stories where the two boys fall in love within the first, like, two chapters. Besides, I want this to be realistic, as much so as sparkling Meyerpires can be, and Edward's entire being is basically centered on Bella right now. It's gonna take a lot to change that, which means Jacob will probably have to be the first to fall. <em>


	4. Chapter 4

_Ahem. At this point, do my apologies for being a terrible, terrible person even make much of a difference? If it makes you feel better, I've been working on this story for a while even if I wasn't posting. At this point the outline is complete (and it is DETAILED, I tell you) and chapters six and seven are written. Not five, because life is horrible. Anyway, um, this is good, because normally I just peter out when I realize I have no clue where a story's going. So while I'm still an awful updater, now I'm an awful updater with a PLAN. Oh, and also: I've now had the first three chapters beta'ed, so there are some minor changes, but nothing plot-changing or anything._

_Smudgedcrimsonlipstick and BelleDuJour from PTB beta'ed this chapter, and for that they are amazing and have my eternal thanks. _

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><p><span>Gibbous<span> – 1. seen with more than half but not the entire apparent disk illuminated; 2. in the phases of the moon, gibbous is the fourth stage starting from the new moon, when a large part of it is lightened and there is a small fraction of darkness

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><p><strong>Chapter Four<strong>

"Edward, you staying for dinner?"

It was Thursday night and Charlie was unusually friendly, a weekend's fishing trip with Billy having softened him up. Edward smiled up at the man from where he sat at the kitchen table, lips tight over his teeth.

"That's all right, thank you. My parents will be expecting me." Carlisle had been unusually tense ever since the debacle that night with the dogs. There was a hunting session tentatively planned for that night, and it certainly wouldn't help for Edward to be late.

Charlie sat down at the table with a grunt, pupping open a can of beer as his chair squealed against the tiled floor. The acrid scent of alcohol saturated the air and burned Edward's eyes and throat, though it did serve to lessen Bella's scent. She was wearing an unwashed sweater today, and it was all he could do to choke out words with what little breath he could spare.

"Oh, didn't he tell you? I saw your dad in the hospital today and – "

"Are you okay?" Bella gasped, nearly dropping the pot she was holding into the sink. Edward tensed, but she managed to steady herself and the little boiling water that had sloshed over the side didn't touch her skin. Clouds of miniscule droplets remained in the air as steam, a pattern among the dust motes that shone like a thousand suns. He closed his eyes.

"I'm fine, Bells," Charlie said with a smile. "Nothing but a routine checkup. Anyway, Dr. Cullen mentioned that it would be nice for you to stay over for dinner again one of these days. Bella, there's enough pasta for the three of us, right?"

Bella shrugged uncertainly, glancing at the vampire whose head was in his hands. "Um, sure, I guess. Edward, do you – "

Edward looked over at her, pale and vibrant against the backdrop of a yellow painted wall. From this short distance he could see the blood pulsing through her veins, hear her heartbeat and her breaths like thunder in his ears. If he concentrated he could see her veins, the entire circulatory system laid bare to him in glowing reds and blues like some bizarre version of an x-ray. Edward pushed himself up from the table and moved to stand by her side. "I'm fine," he murmured into her hair. "I should get to know Charlie anyway."

She had been pushing him to make nice with her father for weeks now, almost as strongly as she did when it came to Jacob. Maybe she was itching for the sort of conventional relationship that had a boyfriend cowering in fear from his date's father and working for his approval. In some ways, deciphering a human's character was about as easy as a human getting to know a hamburger, and it wasn't exactly an appealing prospect judging by the banality Edward saw daily in most people's minds.

Besides, Charlie's personality could have nothing on his scent.

Edward took the pot from Bella's hands and began straining the pasta over the lightly stained sink, the sopping mess of dough curling like hair inside the bowl. He heard Bella yelp at the same time Charlie cursed and knocked over his chair.

"Your hands!"

Startled, he looked down. In his distraction he had forgotten to wear the oven mitts that Bella was holding out. The iron was red-hot and steaming. It would have burned through human skin.

"Jesus, kid," Charlie snapped, taking the pot by its handles and placing it on the countertop. The stench of scorching plastic was almost overpowering. "Let me see."

He held Edward's wrists in his calloused hands and flipped them palm up. A split second later, his mind went blank with shock. A human would have sustained slight burns at the very least. Edward's hands were smooth and pale as ever. He could feel some pain from where the metal had pressed against his skin, but his nerves were mostly dead and it would take more than that to damage a vampire's icy skin. Now the man was looking at him, eyes wide, and Edward jerked his hands out of his grasp. Damn.

"It had mostly cooled off by the time I held it," he improvised quickly. He looked to Bella for help, but she was gaping at him, and he sighed. The surest way to distract a person was to bring up a topic in which they were already interested. Besides, any extra information would be welcome. "Charlie, have you heard the news about the Seattle murders?"

The light of suspicion had already begun fading from Charlie's mind. He was more observant than his daughter but still bullheaded enough to ignore what he didn't believe, latching gratefully onto the conversation as they all sat down at the rickety kitchen table and Bella served out portions of the human food.

"Something I was meaning to talk about with you, Bells," Charlie said, mouth filled with pasta and sauce. Edward wrinkled his nose and glanced around the room. There was a spider web in the corner and dust floating in the air. "There's been no attacks in Seattle for a couple weeks now and they got a guy, so we're thinking it's pretty much safe at this point, but I'd prefer if you're thinking of going there you tell me first. Also" – he grimaced – "take Edward with you."

It was somewhat amusing how Charlie's mind was a cacophony of irritation and grudging acknowledgement of Edward's protective skills, but not a hint of doubt that Edward would agree should Bella ask him to come. Then again, he did tend to grant her wishes without argument. What would she do, he wondered briefly, if he were to refuse her something and just walk away?

Bella took a bite of her food as well, and the sound of their collective chewing rose to a near unbearable volume. She glanced at Edward and raised her eyebrows significantly before saying, "Wow, really, Dad? Someone was talking about that earlier. I still don't think I'll be going anytime soon, though." She made to kick her boyfriend underneath the table, but her aim was off. Edward, hearing the direction of her foot, moved his own leg so that she wouldn't hit her father by mistake and start another round of awkward questions. Unperturbed, Bella continued on. "Edward, what do you think about the whole Seattle thing?"

"Actually, that's why I brought it up," Edward began. He paused and frowned. Sometimes – and it felt almost blasphemous to think this – sometimes conversing with Bella could be somewhat irritating. He was so used to quick-thinking vampires who could match his every move that her slower reactions tired him out, the same way that moving at a human speed was so physically taxing. Vampires were meant to move at a vampire's pace. Even Charlie's thoughts, muddled as they were to Edward's perception, had only begun to process Edward's last words. It would be a moment before their minds were able to catch up. Edward examined the spider web as he waited, admiring the pattern of fine strands.

A skittering noise alerted him to the spider itself, escaping across the floor in the opposite direction from the table. There was a reason the Cullen house was free of bugs. They had fierce survival instincts and the presence of a single vampire could scare them off. Ridiculous, seeing as they were cold blooded and not in danger of being prey to begin with, but sometimes the fear a predator incited in others was beyond reason.

Charlie cleared his throat. Edward looked up at him and then Bella, their eyes fixed expectantly on his face. Almost a full second had passed, and they were ready for him to continue. "My brothers and I will be going to Seattle next weekend, so we were curious as to the police view of its safety at the moment. Alice has had her eyes on a newborn batch of puppies for a while, and we intend to see if there are any still left." He chose his words carefully, silently willing Bella to catch his meaning. He'd meant to have the conversation with her later that night, but she was less likely to protest in front of her father. Edward couldn't allow his brothers to go to Seattle alone. His mindreading would be invaluable when scouting out any remaining vampires.

Her father was staring oddly at him, wondering about the supposed overshare of information on Edward's part. "That's… nice, I guess," he said, even as Bella understood Edward's words and she gasped.

"Edward! No! You can't!"

Edward clenched his teeth against the flare in his throat as her scent swirled across the room, gritty and hot as smoke. "I really can't allow them to go without me, Bella. We'll only be gone for a day."

Tears were beginning to swim in Bella's eyes, and Charlie looked from Edward to her in confusion. Any longer and the man would grow suspicious. It had been a mistake to bring this up.

After telling his family of the rumored silence in Seattle, they had been eager to check for themselves. Victoria's threat had been worrying them all and Edward couldn't blame them for wanting reassurance that the army of newborns was no more.

And if he went with them, he would hurt Bella. Just like he always did. Hurt her again and again until the Devil might as well have taken him down to Hell before he could cause any more pain.

She was looking at him seriously, eyes now dry and cheeks pale. "I can't bear it if you leave me again, Edward."

"Whoa now, Bella, he's only going out with his brothers," Charlie said reassuringly, entirely confused by the conversation. His thoughts flickered briefly through Bella's months of withdrawal before settling on the current scene. "No one's talking about leaving anyone, right?" He looked menacingly at Edward.

Edward ignored him. "It's only a day," he said to Bella, almost pleading and hating it. How could he choose between them and her? How could she insist that he _make_ that choice?

"I can't stand it," Bella said firmly, face set as she shook her head. "I won't survive."

Edward could have told her there was no danger at all, lied and said that Alice had already Seen their safe return, but he couldn't. His sister had Seen nothing and didn't know why. And Edward was tired of fighting with Bella, tired of trying to make her understand when she didn't seem to want to. The vampire shrugged.

"Fine." The word was almost inaudible. "I'm sure they'll manage without me."

Bella's face cleared immediately and she put another forkful of pasta in her mouth, obviously relieved. Charlie had watched the exchange with an odd sense of unease. He seemed almost unhappy that Edward had given in so readily to Bella's demands, and fragments of his concern broke through whatever barrier it was that partially clouded his mind.

_Don't like this. Ridiculous… too much control. _

Edward concentrated hard on the wooden fibers of the table, glad at least that the man was distracted from his guest's apparent lack of appetite. Other times he had insisted on Edward being fed, resulting in hours of nausea and vomiting as the human food disrupted his system. If he tried to count the grains in the wood it was almost possible to ignore the thoughts of every human in the vicinity, obnoxious and loud. Charlie's were the closest, but the others were no less invasive.

Bella finished her meal, seeming to come to a decision as her back straightened and she cleared her throat. Edward tensed. He'd seen that look in her eyes before.

"You know, Edward, I wouldn't mind so much if you did go to Seattle," she said slyly, glancing at the table and then up at him. "If I could come with you. Maybe you could even give me a makeover or something beforehand, you know so I could, um, not get hurt or anything. Around the newborns – uh, dogs. Like a gift or something that I wouldn't mind getting."

At this point, Charlie was alarmed. "Why would you – "

"It's fine, Bella," Edward interrupted. "I won't go. You shouldn't need to change yourself for me." The conversation had gone too far, and he certainly wasn't interested in arguing over Bella's life in front of her father. Besides, the mention of the word had brought the dogs of La Push into his mind, and the remembered smell was biting at his throat.

Even as Bella was taking a breath to retaliate, Edward recognized an unpleasantly familiar mental voice in the back of his head. Jacob. So he hadn't been imagining the smell, then? He got up from the table and schooled his face into a smile.

"Thank you for having me, Mr. Swan, Bella," he said, pushing in his chair. "I had a wonderful time." He was sure to pass close to Charlie on the way out, allowing his pheromones to daze the man into forgetfulness. They'd discussed far too much right under his nose, and he'd had no trouble realizing that something was up. Edward had been stupid, as usual.

Black was leaning casually against the house, sure that Edward would come out once he'd caught his scent. The vampire was almost relieved to see him. After all, even Jacob's presence was preferable to hearing Bella offer up the one thing Edward wanted more than anything.

"Hey, leech," the wolf said smugly, shifting as Edward let the front door bang shut. _Knew you'd come_. _Want to talk. Let's talk._

"What about?" Edward asked, honestly curious. Black usually aimed for alone time with Bella, not the disgusting leech. Jacob's mind was surprisingly warm, almost open, but the wariness Edward felt in his presence didn't disperse. Nothing could make him trust a member of the Quileute tribe.

_Hate that. _Black scowled. "I wanted to know what happened. Why've you been avoiding me? I called!"

Incredulous, Edward stared at the shifter for a long moment. "I wasn't avoiding you," he said finally, still amazed. "If you're referring to Tuesday, then I'd _gone home_. I'm not with Bella every second of every day. Besides, I wasn't aware we were friends."

"Of course we aren't." Black stared down at his sneakers, irritation coating his thoughts. "I – we just wanted to know what the hell happened. With your coven leader and everything. Did you find out about your, um – " He didn't finish the sentence, wincing internally as his mind brought up the image regardless.

Edward closed his eyes. His mother's corpse in the dirt and the mud, maggots decorating the bodies like jewels and the bones of her neck in pieces. _It was nothing_, he reminded himself. _And I have no right to ask. _There would have been a thousand opportunities for brittle skeletons to shatter and Victoria might have had no reason other than simply cruelty to dig up the past. There was no reason for wild guesses and what ifs.

Jacob watched pain flash across the vampire's face and seemed almost sympathetic. "Look," he muttered. "Sorry. I just – "

"I haven't brought up the subject," Edward said, struggling to keep his fingers from digging holes in the brick wall. "And I'm certainly not planning on it. Not that it's any of your business at all."

"Why? Don't you want to know?"

Edward should have just left for home, but after the strained talk with Bella, he was tired of secrecy and lies. He was unable to keep himself from bursting out, "Know what, the truth? Victoria's given up her newborn army plan and it was a _good_ one, so that must mean she's found a far better angle to work from and it won't be something we'll enjoy. To get at us – me, really, because it's my fault she's lost her mate. The package is clearly from her. Who else would have bothered sending it through you wolves to mask their scent?"

In the back of his mind, Edward heard Jacob's slight embarrassment. The wolves had been unable to determine why on earth they'd been involved. He ignored the Quileute's thoughts, desperate to keep talking as long as somebody was _listening_ for once. "Victoria is too clever for her own good, and if I pursue the issue, it'll be playing right into her hands. She'd like nothing better than to rip the family apart. They're just humans from another time, and whatever happened back then – whether Carlisle did something worthy of scrutiny or whether this is all a big lie – I can't leave him and I _don't want to know_."

Jacob was staring at him, mouth agape. _Whoa. Vamps go way into things._ "You got all that from a mail order – never mind." He sighed and narrowed his eyes. "Pretty speech, but I think that's a bunch of bullshit, Cullen. You're _scared_."

"Don't you have a job or something?" Edward snapped, tired of the wolf's abrasive company. He wanted to go home, to the house deep in the woods where the only minds fully within range were those of his family. Here in the busy town, the din overshadowed all else. Charlie was contemplating his food. A man next door was cutting his toenails. Twelve streets over, a women bemoaned her wrinkles even as her husband worried over how to season his pork. It was all too loud, and Edward was thirsty. "You should work at a pound, Black. I'm sure they'd welcome you as one of their own."

Jacob wasn't listening, his thoughts caught up in a scent. His nose twitched like a dog's. Edward almost laughed.

_Funny… what is that? Forest. Smells like trees?_

Glancing around, the wolf noticed a glossy piece of paper in Edward's front jean pocket. Before the vampire could react, Jacob had reached out and grabbed it.

"What the _hell_?" Edward snatched the paper back before the shifter could examine it, shoving it deep into his back pocket. "Black, what is _wrong_ with you?"

"I…" Jacob actually seemed confused by his own behavior. "Whatever," he muttered, pushing himself off the wall and determinedly avoiding meeting Edward's eyes. "See you, leech." He stomped off down the pathway and across the street, mind blaring into Edward's own until he'd phased in the forest behind the house. Animal thoughts were audible to the vampire, but not nearly as intrusive.

Edward was left staring at the house across the street, fingers methodically finding bumps and grooves in the brick of the Swan residence. It was old and weathered, incredibly easy to climb. A human probably could have done it. He wondered vaguely if he should start checking the upper windows as well for locks and cracks. Were there many burglars in Forks?

Inside the house, Charlie was entirely focused on his sports game, and Bella's scent indicated that she was upstairs. Edward concentrated and heard the sound of her scratching pencil, doing math from the sound of it. Words sounded smoother and more joined than numbers when written out. Well, this was as good a time as any. Silently, Edward eased open the front door and stole inside the house, finding Bella's backpack in its usual spot by the unused coat rack and Charlie's fishing boots. Edward wrinkled his nose. They reeked of werewolf and dirty water, a horrible combination.

Holding his breath, he pulled the paper out of his back pocket and slipped it between the pages of Bella's history textbook, unwilling to look at the glossy paper himself. He had the photograph memorized, silk-screened into the back of his mind for the rest of time.

A young boy in starched clothes and a woolen cap, face serious like his parents' as the three of them posed for the picture-taking that was in those days a novelty. Even through the sepia tones of the photograph, Edward could see the flush on his skin and the color in his eyes. In the picture Edward was human, and it had been taken only months before he lost everything – his home, his family, his _life_.

Carlisle had given it to Edward just weeks after his transformation in an attempt to calm his new charge. He'd salvaged it from the ruins of Edward's home; houses had been burned in an attempt to stop the spread of infection. Apart from a few trinkets that had been kept in a bank, the picture was all that Edward had of his family. Of the person he had once been.

And maybe, if Bella saw it, she would note the difference between the boy in the photograph and the monster that was Edward Cullen. It went beyond the physical changes; Edward would never be _alive_ as he had been as a human, never be lifted from the grey shroud of death that was vampirism. Never be anything but soulless and damned.

Maybe, if she saw it, then Bella would understand exactly what she had to lose.

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><p><em>So. Question. Did anyone else see two nights ago, when the moon was randomly gigantic and bright yellow? It was extremely cool, and also weird. Until next time, dear people!<em>


	5. Chapter 5

_They said we'd get six to eight inches of snow. We lost power, somehow BEFORE the storm kicked in, because apparently our electricity is precognitive. People stocked up on food. School was delayed, by only half an hour, but still. And we ended up getting half an inch of snow and a whole lot of mush._

_I hate DC._

_Anyway, Arones and SecretlySeverus from PTB did an amazing job beta'ing this chapter, for which I am especially grateful because I don't know where my mind was when I first wrote it. It was like a half-baked pie of evil. Enjoy!_

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><p><span>Solar Flare<span> – a brief eruption of intense high-energy radiation from the sun's surface; is usually associated with sunspots and bursts of light

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><p><strong>Chapter Five<strong>

Jacob wandered through the outskirts of the woods, coming to a stop at Emily and Sam's red-shingled house and sitting down at the steps to their porch. It was hot despite the chilly rain, his wolf warming him from the inside out and causing the droplets to practically sizzle on his skin. Jacob groaned loudly, hoping that somebody was inside to hear.

A dark head poked out of the window, looking down on him. Emily's hair was pulled back into a bun – something she only did when she was home alone – and she was wearing an old plaid shirt of Sam's.

"Hey, Jacob," she said kindly. "Would you like to come in?"

The smell of fresh muffins began wafting outside, and Jacob nodded. Emily was always ready to listen to his troubles, and she tended to be at her most social when she was baking. He shut the door carefully on his way inside.

The werewolf toed off his shoes as he entered the small kitchen, and Emily turned around with a hot pan of baked goods in her hands.

"So, you hungry?" He opened his mouth to respond, but she continued before he could, putting the tray of muffins back on the stove. "Or do you want to talk?"

Jacob grinned. Emily could read him ridiculously well. It was almost like being in the presence of – he shook his head to clear it and went to sit at the small table. "Um, yeah, actually. I wanted to talk. I was wondering if we were going to be meeting with the Cullens anytime soon?" Sam often shared plans with Emily even before he'd told the rest of the pack.

"Why?" she asked, sitting down across from him and folding her hands on the glossy wood. "Is there some trouble with Bella?"

"No, I'm just bored," Jacob admitted. There hadn't been much to do ever since Seattle had quieted down. The excitement of an upcoming fight had dispersed, and there had been no contact with the resident bloodsuckers for several days.

Emily watched him with an odd expression on her face. She reached across to pull the corded phone from its place on the wall, handing it to the wolf. "If you want to call her, feel free."

Bella's home phone number was the only one he'd ever bothered to memorize. Jacob shrugged and dialed the familiar digits, pressing the phone to his ear as it rang. He hadn't talked to Bella for a while. Maybe she would chase the boredom away.

"Hello?"

"Hey, it's me."

"Hey, Jacob." Bella's voice sounded dull, unhappy. "What's up?"

Jacob paused. "Um, nothing much, Bells," he said. He felt awkward and didn't know what to say. "What about you? Everything okay?"

"I don't know," she whined, sounding frustrated. "Edward hasn't been around a lot and I miss him, and he isn't acting like he used to. It's like he's thinking of leaving me again."

"Really?" Jacob asked, curiosity perking him up immediately. "What's he been doing?"

Bella sighed into the phone and said in a small voice, "He's been quiet when we're together and not really talking much, and it seems like he's always thinking about something else. I don't know why he can't just be happy with me." Her tone softened, becoming almost guilty. "I'm sorry, Jacob. I know you don't like hearing about me and Edward."

"No, it's fine," Jacob said doubtfully. Well, that was kind of weird. Jacob himself could think of reasons for the vampire to be withdrawn these days, and he barely knew the other boy. Shouldn't Bella be able to see through her boyfriend's actions without automatically assuming they had to do with her? "Bella, I think he's just going through some stuff right now. I'm sure it's nothing."

"It's not _nothing_, Jacob, if he's thinking of leaving me again!" He could practically hear her fingers clenching against the plastic of the phone, and fought against the urge to tell her to be careful. Being stronger than the world around them could make someone extra protective of those who weren't.

Then again, she _had _broken her fist against his jaw, so maybe being cautious in her case was justified.

Jacob shifted in his seat, listening to the squeal of wood against the linoleum. "Um, Bella, I don't actually think it's much to do with you." Had the bloodsucker not told her anything of what had happened Monday night? Maybe Jacob should, then. He paused, unsure of what exactly to say. "There was a thing recently with the pack, and I think it brought up some memories for Cu – Edward. He's probably just kind of down."

"Yeah, right," she said, and he pictured her rolling her eyes. "Jake, it has nothing to do with that. Edward doesn't think he's good for me. He's probably just struggling with his stupid morality again. I don't get why he won't understand that I _die_ when he leaves. We can't survive apart!"

"Okay." Jacob felt the urge to hang up the phone, irritation bubbling inside. She wasn't going to listen to him, anyway. Now he remembered why he hadn't spoken to Bella lately. She always seemed to make things so serious, so tragic, and now that she was happy with Edward back, it was like there was nothing to say.

"Speaking of which, where is Cullen?" Jacob asked casually, not exactly sure where he was going with the topic. "He with you right now?"

"No." She sniffled. "I haven't seen him at all today. We didn't even sleep together last night."

Jacob snorted. "Sorry?"

"He normally stays in my bed," she said shyly. "But he's been going out more and not saying where. I don't even think he's with his family that much."

Jacob honestly didn't know what to say, uncertain of how to act with the girl he'd once considered his best friend. The awkwardness had grown to full-blown discomfort with the situation, and the fact that Bella didn't seem to notice his uneasiness only made things worse. Had they ever really talked? What had there been to say to each other? Right now, all he could think was that he wanted to hang up the phone.

"Look, Bella," he said, interrupting whatever she'd been about to say. "Sorry for bothering you. I'd better go now." He pressed the end call button before she could respond, letting out a sigh and kneading his face with his hands. Well, if he'd needed confirmation that his short-lived crush on Bella was gone, this was it. Jacob looked up, startled, at the sound of someone giggling.

He'd forgotten about Emily, who was staring at him with laughter etched across her face. "Jake, what was _that_?"

Jacob paused. "What?"

"I asked if you wanted to call Bella, not interrogate her about one of the vampires," she said, looking at him with that same amused expression. "Is there something you'd like to tell us? Getting a crush?"

Jacob shook his head wordlessly, for the second time unsure of how to reply. He didn't enjoy Cullen's presence; he'd just gotten used to it, that was all. And besides, weren't the rest of them curious as well about the redhead's newest plan?

Emily's smile grew teasing, and Jacob internally groaned. "It's only natural, really," she said, resting her chin in her hands. "We all know the vampires have sex appeal, Jake. Just – " She broke off as they both heard the door slam open. Sam popped his head in the kitchen, the forms of Embry and Jared behind him almost filling the hallway to its limit.

"Hey, Em." His dark eyes rested on her for a moment, then turned to Jacob. "You're in luck. We got another one today."

Jacob caught a glimpse of a brown papered box clutched in Embry's arms, small enough this time to be held easily by a single person. Well, hopefully no bodies this time. He spent a moment attempting to hide his enthusiasm before giving up. "I'll take it."

"For fu – seriously, Jacob," Sam said, rolling his eyes. "You'd think that you'd be _happy_ now that we don't need to share our space with the bloodsuckers." After Jacob had relayed the news about the lack of a newborn threat, the pack had immediately clamored to stop the training sessions with the vampires. Jacob had been excited, at first, until the monotony had begun to stain his life grey. He shrugged.

"You know, Cullen hasn't been going home much. The leader called earlier, wanted to know if we'd smelled Edward near our land." Sam shoved Jacob out of the chair to take a seat, and Jacob swiped the package from Embry as he left the kitchen. He paused at his alpha's next words. "You might not even see him, Jake, so just leave it at the doorstep."

Jacob nodded and kept walking.

The treaty had been lenient on their side, and the wolves were allowed on Cullen territory even while phased. Their only restriction was that they had to wear clothes in human form – probably the old leech had been disgusted by the sight of a tribe of half-naked men. Jacob grinned to himself, but it quickly faded as he stripped off his shorts to go wolf and tied them with the string around his wrist. The Cullens couldn't enter La Push at all.

He placed the box on the ground, phased, and carefully picked it up in his mouth before breaking into a run.

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><p>Jacob the wolf didn't think like a person did.<p>

Wolves – shifters or not – weren't exactly competent when it came to human languages, so his thoughts ran in colors and sensations rather than words. Concepts like future and past had no meaning to him, vague memories and instincts guiding his path instead. Jacob kept his mind firmly on the image of the cardboard box in his jaws, trying to remind the wolf of his destination. It was easier when they traveled as a pack, their collective humanity blending together to overwhelm their animal natures.

When the numbing stench of vampire grew almost overpowering, Jacob looked up to see the Cullen house with perfect clarity through his strong eyes. It was the first time he'd laid eyes on the building, and he couldn't stop himself from coming to a halt. His mouth dropped open and too late he heard the package land on the grass with a hollow thump.

Jacob grumbled to himself and transformed back, pulling up his shorts before carefully picking the box up from the ground. His eyes were glued to the large white house in front of him. Bella had once described it as beautiful, modern like the model houses on the shiny covers of magazines. Its framework looked like something from a hundred years ago, as if the grassy clearing had transported him to another era entirely. Jacob supposed the house might have been updated with paint jobs and appliances, and maybe it was even aesthetically pleasing, but all he could think was how _cold _it looked.

Even without the killers living inside, even without its location in the middle of nowhere, Jacob wouldn't have wanted to live in that house. Something about it made his hackles rise and his hair stand on end.

He almost jumped when the door opened silently and Edward Cullen was revealed, glaring with his arms crossed over a dark shirt. The Quileute was amused to note that his presence certainly didn't help lessen the haunted house vibe.

"What are you doing here, Jacob?"

"We got something," Jacob said, holding up the box as he climbed the wooden steps to the porch. He pushed the package into Edward's hands and passed him to enter the house uninvited. He heard the door close as the vampire silently followed him inside.

"Please, come in," Cullen said sarcastically, and Jacob shrugged. _Manners are for people, leech_. Edward narrowed his eyes and put the package on an entryway table while Jacob looked around. It was white and cream, as far as the eye could see. Jacob glanced back to see Edward watching him, frowning, and said the first thing that popped into his head.

"Do you have a bathroom?"

The vampire looked startled at the abrupt question. "No."

Jacob stared meaningfully at a door down the hall, behind which a porcelain sink was visible, and Edward followed his gaze. "You are a terrible host," Jacob told him.

"You're not exactly the model guest," Edward retorted, though what looked like a smile had crossed his face. It was so quick that Jacob couldn't be sure what he'd seen. "We do have bathrooms," Cullen said, "but they aren't exactly usable."

Curious, Jacob brushed past him and entered the small room. More white, pressing in on his eyes. How did the vampires stand it? The toilet was in the far corner, behind a sink with what looked like cast iron knobs. Everything looked perfectly ordinary, as far as he could see. Jacob was about to call Edward out on his lie when he happened to glance into the toilet, taking a moment to realize what was wrong with the picture. There was no drain in the toilet bowl, just more unbroken porcelain.

The wolf raised his eyebrows. "What is this?" He hadn't heard the vampire follow him inside, and he jumped when the cool voice sounded from just behind him.

"We realized long ago that our improved senses have as many downsides as advantages. The stench of sewage is foul, practically unbearable. We have to block up the toilets, or it wafts up from the pipes below and drives us all insane."

"And people don't ask questions?" Jacob turned to look at him, noting how the vampire's hair shone golden underneath the soft yellow lights. It was the only part of him that looked like it might have some warmth to offer up. There was no color in the rest of him, only shades of grey – white skin, black eyes.

Edward shrugged, saying, "We don't have many living guests. And as for Bella – she hasn't asked to use the bathroom here." He frowned. "Not once. She insists on wearing nice clothes, doing her hair – I've tried to explain that she doesn't need to impress us. She's human; that's remarkable enough."

Jacob had noticed that, the way Bella held herself around Cullen like she was aware of every inch of herself, the way she bit her lip and played with her hair. With Jacob, she was completely different – more natural, more open. Every time she'd visited his house, she'd been wearing loose jeans, sneakers, and had her hair in a messy bun. Maybe she had different personas to pull up for each of them – Jacob's Bella, Edward's Bella.

The vampire was glaring at him, most likely unhappy with the thoughts running through Jacob's head. "Why are you here again, Black?" he snapped. "I doubt you just felt like hanging out with some bloodsuckers in your free time."

Jacob decided to ignore that last bit. "I – _we_ wanted to see what's in that package." He gestured with his chin out the bathroom door. "Sam's orders," he lied quickly.

"I suppose there's no such thing as privacy when it comes to us monsters." Cullen brushed the hair from his face with a quick motion of his hand. "Well, come on then."

Jacob followed the mind reader out of the bathroom, hearing only his own footsteps as they walked. Cullen didn't even leave marks in the softly carpeted hall. He was reminded of something that had bothered him since Monday. "Hey, why aren't you heavy?"

Edward turned around, eyes bright with surprise. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me," Jacob pressed on, "I mean, you vamps are so dense, I'd think – "

The vampire looked at him thoughtfully now, a strange expression on his face. "Our skin is hard," he said, holding up his smooth hand for Jacob's inspection. It glimmered faintly in the light. "But I wouldn't exactly call it dense. Besides, water weight makes up over half of the human body. We're all dried up inside, nothing but dead organs and empty veins." His voice was rough, as if he expected his words to disgust Jacob.

Once they reached the front hall again, Edward picked up the package and began to carefully undo the brown paper wrapping. Jacob looked around again, curious despite himself. The house had an aura that made him simultaneously want to vomit and stay forever in the rooms of white. He wondered how much stronger the allure would be when the entire coven of vampires was inside, seven golden pairs of hypnotist's eyes looking straight into his.

The sound of a muttered curse made him turn back to the vampire. Edward held something small and sparkling, face drawn smooth and blank. Jacob saw a silver chain tangled through his fingers. Jewelry?

"Cullen? What is it?"

Cullen ignored him, his hand clenching around the trinket until Jacob heard the scrape of metal on stone. Jacob averted his eyes, uncomfortable. "Cullen, you're going to crush it."

Edward didn't answer. His eyes were darker than Jacob had ever seen. Sighing, Jacob leaned forward and practically wrestled the object from the vampire's ice-locked hands. Cullen tried to push him away, but Jacob stood his ground and the bloodsucker didn't seem to be using his full strength. There was a thin sheen of sweat on his face by the time he'd managed to wrest it from Edward's grasp. It was a small, heart-shaped locket carved from what looked like crystal, glittering beneath the hall lights. He looked at it for a moment, then down at the vampire who was staring at the floor. Jacob reached out, paused, and then put his hand lightly on Edward's shoulder.

Cullen finally looked up at him, lips pressed together. "Did I hurt you?" He didn't exactly sound worried, just resigned.

Jacob snorted and wiped the sweat from his forehead, trying to do it surreptitiously. "You think you can hurt me so easily, leech?" He might not have been as strong as a vampire, especially not in human form, but the wolves were a whole lot more durable than regular people were. "Do you know how hard it is to break my bones?"

"No," Edward said quietly, shaking his head. He stared down at the necklace in Jacob's hand. Jacob looked at it, the jewelry fine against his tanned skin. "Could I have that back, please?"

The Quileute handed it back with an odd sense of reluctance, watching as Edward held the locket in one cupped hand, examining it. Vampires had a delicate touch. His pale fingers barely stroked the surface of the jewelry, ignoring the fact that he could crush it with ease. Edward bent his head so that his bright hair fell in front of his face, obscuring his eyes from Jacob's view and moving out of his reach.

Jacob stared at his own, now empty, hands. "So, um." He really didn't know what to say. Was this his day for awkwardness? Maybe it wasn't Bella – maybe he'd just forgotten how to carry on conversations in general. He stared at the plain white walls, trying to keep his thoughts quiet while he waited. For what? It was odd that the vampire hadn't yet sent him on his way. Cullen would have heard his thoughts clearly stating that Sam had given him no such instructions to stay, and even ignoring that, the vampires weren't under the alpha wolf's power. Was he really so lonely, to allow a werewolf in his house?

"Why come alone?" Edward asked abruptly, breaking the silence. "Aren't you afraid?"

Jacob almost laughed, seeing the vampire's slim build and light skin. It was so easy to look at him and fall under the deception, the idea that he was powerless and weak. Still. "What, scared of you? Cullen, I think I can handle a single leech myself."

"You know that's not true." The vampire's tone wasn't threatening despite the words coming out of his mouth. "It takes a pack of you to bring one of us down, Black. The seven of us out here, we could decimate you in minutes if we so chose." _We'd kill you first_, Jacob thought loudly, and imagined scenes of the wolves tearing the Cullens apart rose to the surface of his mind. The pack wouldn't take much convincing to turn on the leeches. Edward glared and continued, "Not that the end of your tribe would be such a tragedy."

Jacob clenched his fists. "We exist to protect people from _you_, bloodsucker. We're the good guys."

A bitter smile worked its way across the vampire's pale face. "Right," he said softly. "You go on telling yourself that. Now, please go away."

Jacob tried not to feel bad for how easy it was to descend into this. He'd been trying to help, not make things worse. "Cullen, why aren't you going home?"

"Why aren't you minding your own business?" Edward countered. "Besides, I am home, you imbecile."

"I meant – Sam said something, but whatever. What about Bella? She says you've been avoiding her. You don't tell her _anything_, do you?" Jacob let the conversation with the girl play out through his head. "Do you two talk at all?"

Edward looked at him curiously. "Why wouldn't that please you?"

Jacob frowned, searching his head for a response that was far enough from the truth. It was like a shock of cold water when he realized that he didn't know the real answer himself. "Competition over Bella's not so fun if you're just giving up," he muttered, wishing he weren't facing a mind reader.

"You don't even like her." Cullen frowned, his expression almost clinical. "In fact, you haven't for a while. Was that all it ever was to you? A game – see who wins the girl? Why don't you want her anymore, Jacob?"

The Quileute ran through memories of their last few talks, his growing disillusionment with the entire situation. "I realized she isn't what I want out of life. She's not… interesting enough." He paused. "I don't love her. And I'm tired of forcing myself to pretend because I didn't want to imprint." The leech had talked to him more than he'd expected. It was only fair. "I thought she'd keep it at bay," he admitted. "But I didn't want to trick myself into really falling in love with her. She wasn't worth it."

"Some of us don't have that choice," Edward said, looking thoughtfully at him. A few rays of sunlight broke through a cloud and bounced off the wooden floor. "She hurts. I don't think she means to, but she does it all the same."

They had spent too long together in an enclosed space. Jacob could feel his wolf itching, longing to break free of the confines of humanity and let his teeth and claws do the work. He could almost taste the gristle in his mouth. Edward stood very still, and Jacob was sure that the darkness in his eyes wasn't entirely unhappiness over this second strange delivery.

"All right," the vampire said. "You really should go now. Esme would hate it if we were to stain her rugs." He flitted to the door and opened it, standing far enough back for the shifter to get through.

Jacob hopped the steps, pulling off his shorts and allowing his humanity to melt away. The wolf turned around instinctively, well aware of the threat at its back. Edward's skin was like glass, reflecting the golden rays of sunlight that streamed down through the leaves. Jacob's head rang from the blinding light. It was almost impossible to look straight at the vampire without squinting. He opened his mouth, forgetting that he couldn't speak in animal form, but Edward had closed the door.

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><p><em>Just out of curiosity, what would you say is the most popular Twilight slash pairing? As far as I can tell, it's JasperEdward, which is kind of depressing because I was hoping Jakeward would turn into the new Drarry. Except that nothing could ever truly replace Drarry. Actually, never mind that. I'd like to see Edward/Tanya, I think, or maybe Edward/Mike. I don't know. I'm not a huge fan of pairings in general, which means I'm probably in the wrong fandom. What about you guys? Which pairings are your favorites? Also, please review! I'd love to hear your thoughts on the chapter._


	6. Chapter 6

_Hello! First things first: I thought I'd clear up what seems to be a common misconception when it comes to this story. As of right now, _Jacob has NOT imprinted on Edward_. True, the boys are being more civil to each other, but that's because Jacob doesn't want Bella anymore. And he realized he'd been enjoying the vampire's company after the training sessions stopped. Trust me, when Jacob imprints on someone I'll make it VERY clear. And because I'm feeling generous, here's a hint: Jacob won't be imprinting on Edward Cullen. In response to one reviewer, this story IS going to be Jacob/Edward. Don't worry; this'll all make sense in a couple of chapters. My posting schedule is mostly based on when PTB gets back to me, which is usually within a few days._

_Which reminds me! In a little over a week I'll be sixteen years old. Actually, that's kind of depressing, because as a general rule I prefer odd numbers. Sixteen's just so flouncy. Anyway, my point is that reviews would be an amazing early birthday present. _

_As I mentioned earlier, this chapter was beta'd by PTB, in particular the wonderful Batgirl8968 and Michelle. Huge thanks to them, because I managed to make some incredibly stupid mistakes this time – like typing 'phonograph' instead of 'photograph' and claiming Edward could walk through solid rock. HE'S A GHOST._

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><p><span>Umbra<span> – 1. perfect and whole shadow of an opaque body, like a planet, wherein direct light from the source of brightness is totally reduced; 2. area of complete darkness on the shadow made by an eclipse

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><p><strong>Chapter Six<strong>

The sun shone hot and bright. It glistened off Edward's skin even as he stood in the shadow of Bella's home, leaning unnecessarily against a massive fallen tree. The leaves draped around him like party lights as the vampire waited quietly, listening to the voices inside the house. There was another human inside with Bella.

A girl, he judged as a breeze carried their scents towards him, one who was familiar. He searched through his head until he found her thoughts, threads of her mind unspooling into his. Angela Weber, the human with glasses and a shy mind.

" – think Ben's cheating on me," she was saying, voice tight as if she was trying not to cry. Edward barely stopped himself from rolling his eyes. Humans with their two week relationships were often only upset because they thought a break-up merited days of tears and sobs. It was the same phenomenon that led to people falling to the ground after being shot because they'd seen it on TV, despite the fact that most weapons didn't generate nearly enough force to budge a human frame.

Bella sounded almost bored herself. She didn't seem to care for her human friends all that much, Edward reflected, despite their many attempts to include her. "Really, Ange? What happened?"

"He isn't around much, and when he is it's like he's thinking of something else," Angela groaned. Gold flashed through her mind. "And I saw a girl with him the other day. She was tall and she had blond hair."

"Did you see who it – "

"No. Just the back." Angela envisioned several empty seats in a classroom. "And yesterday he said he was sick, but I'm not sure I believe him."

"Well, there has been that bug going around," Bella said patiently. Her pulse beat in his ears like a drum.

Edward glanced around as the sun seemed to brighten and saturate the world with color. It was growing almost warm these days. Summer was approaching, the most dangerous time of the year for his kind. He was hit by a sudden curiosity and held out his hand so that it sparkled and shone in the light. If he stayed in the sun long enough, like an ant beneath a magnifying glass, would he start to steam and then burn? His hand began to ache, a bone-deep chill that was odd against the warmth. He drew it back into the shadows.

Edward moved through the trees until he'd reached a lower story window, slipping it open with ease. He'd be unable to attend school today due to the lack of clouds, and Bella had asked him to come over before she left. She must not have known that her friend would arrive. Edward took one last deep breath of the clean air surrounding him, fresh and untainted by blood, before entering the house. He wondered too late why he hadn't just used the front door. Windows were really becoming a habit with him, it seemed.

As he ascended the carpeted stairs, the air bit at his throat like sandpaper, hot and coarse. He knocked once on Bella's closed door. The human mind registered sound about an eighth of a second after his own, so Edward had enough time to examine the faded flowered wallpaper and lace curtains of the hall before the door swung open. Bella's face peered out.

"Edward?" She smiled and pulled him into the room, dragging them both to her bed. "I hope you don't mind if he's here, Ange. Edward's good with reading people."

Angela shrugged, wiping her eyes with a tissue while Edward fingered Bella's hair. It was as warm and glorious as the rest of her. Edward wished absentmindedly that she would move closer to him, but she stayed perched on the edge of the bed. He leaned against the wall and tried not to breathe as Angela thought through the offer.

"That's all right," the girl said finally, her boyfriend fading from her mind. "I don't want to be late – I needed to go now anyway." She stood and zipped up her thin coat. As she was leaving the room, Angela caught sight of a framed photo on Bella's desk. Jacob kissing Bella's cheek as he dropped her off at the Cullen house. Edward winced automatically and she looked his way.

_Oh jeez._ Angela was now focused entirely on his and Bella's relationship and Edward found himself wishing she'd go back to complaining about her own. The girl stood in the doorway, eyes wide. Her thoughts were more coherent than usual for a human as she unknowingly directed them straight to the mind reader. _What are you doing to him, Bella?_ Her mind ran through several images like the photographs of Edward's youth, stills in faded color and sepia tones. Edward watching Bella as she went off with Jacob Black, clutching her backpack like it was all he had left of the most precious thing on earth. In another, a crowd of students surrounded two boys whose clenched fists and aggressive postures told of an imminent fight. It took Edward a moment to recognize himself and Jacob, that day the werewolf had visited his school. At the time, he'd only been aware of anger that the Quileute was interfering in his and Bella's lives. In Angela's mind, the pain lancing through both Edward and Jacob's eyes was at the forefront of the scene.

Edward resisted the urge to shove the girl out of the room and slam the door. She knew nothing. Bella was everything. She was worth the burning and the pain and the ever-present taunts of the wolves. He loved her more than there were stars in the sky. More than anything, more than –

His family?

His _human _family?

Once her friend had left the house, Bella turned to Edward with a faint smile on her lips. She leaned forward for a kiss but Edward moved away, lost in thought. He didn't want to fight the thirst, not now.

Was Bella worth all this loss? If he could go back in time and do it all again, if he could avoid the influenza or die as he should have died, if he could _change_ things, would he? Would he want to become a vampire, knowing the path would lead to her? Knowing that decades of pain and loss and the lack of a soul would bring him to Isabella Swan?

Edward would always have assumed that the answer would be yes. He _wanted_, more than anything, for the answer to be yes. But how could it be? How could one girl be worth the loss of his entire life, the addition of one more terrible monster to the already overcrowded earth? Be worth the knowledge that he was going to hell?

No, Edward realized, she wasn't worth it. He would rather have died than become a vampire, even knowing that he would never meet her.

And he was an absolute bastard for that fact.

"Edward?" Bella sounded irritated. She must have called his name several times. Edward looked up at her, forcing himself to smile. "I asked what you wanted to do this weekend."

The vampire froze. This weekend his brothers would be in Seattle, unprotected by his mind reading as they hunted out newborns. And he would be with Bella at her insistence, never leaving her side. Choosing her over his family. The humans were long dead, but in many ways he did love Emmett and Jasper as well.

Edward was speaking before he could stop himself.

"I'm going to Seattle with my brothers, actually."

Bella stilled, pain scrawled across her face, and Edward looked away. The guilt was almost suffocating, but he couldn't do it. Couldn't keep choosing her over whatever family he had left.

He should never have existed. All he brought was pain. There was a reason God didn't advocate vampires.

"I'm sorry, Bella," he said quietly when she didn't speak, tears beginning to well in her eyes. "I can't let them go alone."

He left before she could pull herself together enough to respond, leaping from her window and racing through the trees. He wanted to run until he couldn't find the world, until he'd left himself in the past where he belonged. There was no need to go home. Alice would have seen his decision, and she would inform the family of his change in plans.

For now, he could forget.

* * *

><p>Paul looked up at the sound of a struggling engine to see a rusty old truck crunching up the road. He closed the book he was reading without bothering to mark the spot – honestly, he hadn't absorbed a word of the thing – and watched as the girl nearly fell out of her seat when she opened the door. Paul smirked.<p>

Isabella Swan wasn't his least favorite person on the planet, but she definitely came close. The girl had been coming to the reservation for months now, and the perpetually mopey expression on her face didn't get on only Paul's nerves. She tended to turn off whatever music the boys were listening to when she entered a room, and Paul had spent enough time around girls to recognize that when she walked, she expected people to watch her do it – ignoring the fact that her face was plain and her body was plainer.

"Hey, Paul, right?" Swan came trudging up the path, baggy jeans and a brown sweater getting damp in the light mist. Irritating or not, she was still a girl, so Paul watched carefully to see if the material of her top was thin enough to see through.

It wasn't. He looked away, bored.

"Paul!" The girl brushed a strand of hair from her cheek and came to a stop before him, nearly invading his personal space. "Have you seen Jacob?" Bella's dark hair was actually kind of pretty, but not enough to make up for her voice. She had a green backpack slung over her left shoulder and was compensating by leaning slightly to the right. Had school just let out? Paul was starting to forget things like that after having been absent for the better part of his last year. "_Paul_!"

Paul rolled his eyes, realizing that she wasn't in fact going to disappear if he ignored her long enough. "No, _Bella_," he said. "I haven't. Would you like me to take a message?" The false politeness would probably be lost on her.

Swan scowled and bit her lip, looking up through her lashes as if she thought he'd go crazy at the sight. Paul glanced back at the door to Jacob's house, regretting coming to visit that afternoon. Jacob wasn't his favorite pack member, but he did have an incredible garage. He hadn't been home when Paul came over, and he'd stayed outside reading one of Jake's books when Billy suggested that he wait. The old man could have warned him that Bella Swan would be visiting. Paul opened the book to a random page, hoping that Swan would get the message and leave.

"I need to talk to him," Bella said, her face bright red and angry. "I need to know what he did!"

This perked Paul's interest enough for him to put the book down again. "Yeah? What'd Jakey do this time?" Sarcasm aside, a small part of him was almost worried. Black had caused more than enough trouble for the pack since he'd transformed, mostly over this girl. He'd started fights with her vampire boy toy and almost broken the treaty time after time again. At some point, Sam was going to lose patience with the guy. Paul certainly had.

Bella looked like she was about to stamp her foot, her face darkening further. "I don't _know_ what he did! That's the point!"

"I meant," Paul said, rolling his eyes again. "What _happened_ to make you think he did something?" How did Jacob stand her?

"Edward's been acting weird!" Swan half shrieked, tears beginning to pool in her eyes. "He's been avoiding me and acting weird and I know one of you did something!" She paused and took a breath. "There was some secret midnight meeting between you, I know that, Jacob said! So what did you _do_?"

Paul couldn't help it. The girl had come onto their property, leech stink clinging to her hair and her skin, and screamed accusations in his face.

He laughed.

"Acting kind of bitchy here, Swan. You on your period or what?"

She froze for a moment as if unable to believe what he'd said, like she couldn't accept someone treating her as less than royalty. In a delayed reaction, Bella's face contorted and she threw her entire backpack at Paul's head. It missed by almost a yard. He watched, mildly interested, as the bag burst against the wall of Jacob's house. The clatter was loud enough that he was surprised Billy didn't come out to investigate.

"See you, Swan," the werewolf called as she stomped back to her hideous truck and started the engine. He watched until she was out of sight.

Feeling unusually generous now that she was gone, Paul picked up her textbooks and papers, lifting the thirty or so pounds in his arms like it was nothing. He elbowed open the front door, stepping straight into the kitchen and stacking the books on the tiled counter next to a six-pack of beer. Jacob would yell at him later for upsetting his girl, but it had definitely been worth it. The garage could wait.

Paul tucked his hands into his jeans and walked out of the house, grinning and humming to himself. He left the screen door swinging wide open behind him. Billy liked a little breeze going into his house.

Jacob hadn't been around much lately, anyway.

* * *

><p>Edward ran until the wind forced the breath from his lungs, until he couldn't see and he couldn't hear. He came to a stop when the change in scents marked the beginning of Quileute territory, backtracking quickly. Self-righteous and hypocritical as they were, the wolves would be nowhere near as forgiving of a breach as the Cullens had been.<p>

The vampire moved silently through the forest for the second time that day, sunlight sparking off of him and almost setting fire to the leaves where it touched. He smelled rot and decay before he saw it: the small cemetery just off the edge of Forks. A perpetual aura of sadness seemed to hang about the place, and the trees cast gloomy shadows over the yellowing grass.

Edward made his way through the graveyard until he'd reached the far side, kneeling before two plain white stones as if in prayer. In this technological age, it was safest to hide any accidental kills in a place they would never be found – a place where the dead were already in abundance and visitors were most often distracted by their grief.

Every time they moved, the Cullens installed several empty graves in the local cemetery, complete with fake names and doctored to appear several years old, in case one of them were to slip up. They were like ready-made places of penance for when one of the Cullens inevitably gave in to the innate horror that all vampires possessed.

His family hadn't been forced to use one of the sites since 1983, when Emmett had been overcome and drained a woman of her sickly sweet blood. When Jasper slipped up, he usually just dropped the bodies into a river to avoid informing the family of his mistake. Now they had filled two, but the caskets didn't hold victims of bloodlust. They held his human parents, dead by a hundred year old flu, their bodies carted from Chicago to Forks in some sick quest for revenge.

It was almost funny. Almost.

Edward leaned his forehead against one of the tombstones and closed his eyes, gripping the edges of the stone as if he was clinging to his mother's skirts. Time didn't pass for the immortal, not really, and what he remembered of his human life was as fresh as if it had happened the day before. The illness had scrambled his mind even before the change set in, so all he could recall in true clarity were the last few weeks of sickness and mourning. The epidemic of 1918 was reality for him, not the dull facts and statistics in textbooks that people skimmed over today.

It had been terrible, had brought about the death of himself and everyone he knew.

And Carlisle. It had given the man the excuse he needed to snatch Edward from his hospital bed, to steal away his soul and his life without bothering to ask for consent. Edward clung more strongly to the tombstone, its surface rough against his oversensitive skin. He could feel the stone crumbling like sand beneath his fingers.

He wanted to be human. He wanted his parents. He wanted to die.

The graveyard was eerily silent, any birds or animal life having been scared off by the vampire's presence. He looked at the grass, and where normally thousands of miniscule bugs could be seen there was nothing but dirt. There were dust mites in the air, at least, visible in the last faint rays of sunlight. It was ridiculous how reading their faint impulses, unaffected by Edward's nearness, was such a relief to him. Edward couldn't help a self-deprecating smirk. He'd hit a point where he was enjoying the company of creatures too small to be seen with the human eye. But they didn't fear him, didn't have enough thoughts to do so. The others were right to run. Life just didn't seem possible to sustain in close proximity to a vampire. He drained it. He took it away.

The sun was just beginning to set, and soon its faint burn would be replaced by a moonlit night. Vampires were safe in the darkness. It kept their secrets. Edward unclenched his fists, staring at the handprints he'd made in the hard stone. A human wouldn't have done that. People molded to the world around them, as they should, instead of the other way around. It was vampires who were monstrous enough to create and destroy, who changed their surroundings to suit their liking and killed to support their own sick half-lives.

Edward leaned back against the stone, face cast upward toward the sky. The air shimmered around him as his skin caught and refracted the sun's last rays. It took a moment to sink below the horizon, and the vampire watched as the world grew dark. Another day was gone. The living had lost a small portion of their lives. Those hours could never be recovered.

And Edward, as always, remained unchanged.

* * *

><p><em>Edward's angst amuses me to no end. I am a terrible person.<em>

_I looked it up, and opinions seem to be pretty much split on whether or not 'groaned' is a viable option for a dialogue tag. Personally, I think it is. I mean, how else are we supposed to communicate at six in the morning? Either way, most of the references said it was grammatically okay so I'm going with yes. _


	7. Chapter 7

_Greetings, dear readers! Since I'm probably never going to get around to responding to each one, I'd like to stress how incredibly grateful I am for every single review. Seriously, they are like pieces of sunshine in a jar. Each of you gets a mental hug. Anyway, this is a bit shorter than I'd like, and the next one is a little too long, but I couldn't find a better stopping point. Also, my birthday is in eight minutes. Yay._

_Thanks to NinaQ and_ _jennej from PTB for doing a wonderful job beta'ing this chapter. No thanks to the weatherman for predicting snow when we all know that's just a pipe dream._

_I don't want to put this at the end of the chapter because I'd like the drama to be mostly the last thing you guys read, so I'll say it here: please, please, please wait for next chapter to make any assumptions about the story. After reading this, you'll be confused because it completely contradicts what I said earlier, but I promise it'll all make sense. What I've told you still stands: Jacob's imprint is not very important to the plot, and the story WILL be Jacob/Edward slash._

_Enjoy! _

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><p><span>Shock Wave<span> – a type of disturbance propagating outward; it carries with it energy that spreads out through solid, liquid, or gas mediums

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><p><strong>Chapter Seven<strong>

Alice hurtled down the stairs wearing tight, dark clothes like a second skin. "It's time," she breathed, and in a flash, Carlisle was by her side.

"Alice?"

"I'll tell the boys to get fed," she said, smiling at her pseudo-father and handing him a silver cell. "You make the arrangements. I can't See, but things should go okay."

Carlisle watched his daughter dash outside in a streak of dark and light. No, she hadn't Seen. His sons were going headfirst into danger and there was no guarantee of their safety, none at all.

Frowning, he opened the phone.

* * *

><p>Sam picked up the phone on the third ring, the cheap plastic cool against his palm and his cheek. "Hello?"<p>

"Sam. We need to talk."

It was the calm voice of the vampire doctor, and Sam sighed and leaned against the countertop. He'd had more than enough of the Cullens for an entire lifetime. "Yeah? What about?" he asked, trying to keep his tone at least marginally polite. If he respected any of the leeches, it was Carlisle Cullen.

"You called a meeting between my coven and your pack last Sunday," the vampire said. "Now it is our turn. Meet my children at nine o'clock tonight at the boundary line, please. There are matters we need to discuss."

Sam nodded, knowing that Cullen would hear the movement of air. Nothing got past their senses, even through a goddamn phone line. He had seen Edward Cullen take notice of a fresh coat of paint on the Clearwaters' roof from his side of the line, miles away from La Push. It was disturbing. It was unnatural.

_Vampires_ were unnatural.

"Oh, and Sam." The head Cullen's voice sounded different now, some strange emotion underlining the words. "One last thing, if you don't mind… Don't bring Jacob."

_I do mind_, Sam almost said. It was his first instinct to deny the monsters what he could. The words were on the tip of his tongue, but then his mind caught up, and he paused.

"I won't," he agreed, and heard the click as the doctor hung up the phone.

There was a soft rustling as Emily entered the room, gorgeous in a deep red blouse. Sam looked to see her watching him, all dark eyes with her lovely hair twisted into a bun. Her skin shone gold in the light, a treasure to be cherished and adored. Sam smiled at the sight of her.

"Why did you agree?" she asked quietly, gesturing toward the phone with her chin.

The alpha wolf shrugged and answered with the truth.

"I think Jacob's been seeing more than enough of the Cullens lately."

* * *

><p>It was almost light outside in comparison to the last time they'd met, the moon just barely above the horizon. Sam clenched his fists as behind him, Paul and Jared continued to fidget. The younger wolves were quiet, almost nervous. This time they'd been the ones to arrive first.<p>

The smell heralded their arrival, the sickly-sweet stench of decay and rot making Embry grimace. Paul pretended to choke. Sam didn't blink, watching carefully as the vampires materialized through the light mist of rain. They stood silently, parallel to the wolves across the line. Two males and a small dark-haired female.

He was sure he hadn't imagined the way the temperature dropped by several degrees.

"Our sire called this meeting as a courtesy," the middle one said. "We have all heard the rumors concerning Seattle and its lack of newborn activity."

Sam looked closely at him, squinting through the gloom. Edward Cullen. He was only familiar with the boy's name because of Jacob's near obsession with him, one that had bled out into each of their heads. This was the mind reader, Sam recalled, and instinctively tried to shut off his own thoughts.

The vampire smirked, exposing his teeth as if to incite the wolves to attack. "It doesn't work like that, Uley. And for the record, their names are Emmett and Alice." The large male to his right shifted, pale hands clenched into fists. "Anyway, my brothers and I will be traveling to the city tonight to either confirm or deny the news. We'll let you know of the outcome." He sounded almost reluctant.

Sam felt relief strip a great weight from his shoulders. The fear for his pack's safety had been a constant in the back of his head. "And if the army is really gone – "

"Then the agreement is off," the mind reader said, finishing Sam's sentence word for word. _Unnatural_. "You will no longer be expected to fight alongside us under any circumstances, and the offer of training sessions will be permanently withdrawn."

"And why couldn't your leader tell me this himself?"

"Jasper is feeding," the female chirped, eyes bright against her snow-white face. "And the others weren't going out in the first place, so there's no point in them coming just to meet with you." She shrugged. "I'm only here hoping that the longer I spend with you wolves, the more time my Sight will have to adjust."

Her sight? As far as Sam knew, none of the Cullens had any problems regarding their eyes. This would be the one with scenes from the future in her head. Sam made a mental note to avoid her as much as possible and tell his pack to do the same. If her talents didn't work around them, it could only be to their benefit. It wouldn't take much convincing, of course, to keep his tribe out of a vampire's presence. The creatures were alien and brutality radiated from their deathly cold skin. Sam tried to keep himself from shuddering at the sight.

Their very existence went against what was good and right, a violation of the natural order of things. He could feel it in his bones, in the longing to rip and tear. He pushed down his own monster, refusing to give the wolf free reign.

He'd learned that lesson long ago.

"The dislike is mutual, _dog_," Edward Cullen snarled. "Step off your pedestal, why don't you." Next time, Sam would insist that the coven leader came to any meetings instead of his more volatile son.

Quil sneered. "Nobody asked you to listen in on us, Cullen. Quit being a freak if you don't like what you hear."

The bulky vampire shifted into a crouch. Edward glanced at him, his face a smooth mask. "Emmett, don't."

Emmett stepped in front of the other vampire, glaring at the Quileutes. Beside his huge form, his siblings looked as fragile as glass. "As far as we're concerned, the treaty has regressed to its state from a year ago. No meetings, no sessions, no contact. And that includes Jacob Black in regards to Edward and Bella's relationship. Quit stepping over the line. Remember, you've already broken the treaty once," he said, crossing his arms and narrowing yellow eyes. "Try not to do so again. We might not be so lenient next time." He didn't wait for a response, ushering his two talented siblings away before Sam had fully processed his words.

In their absence, the night air was almost warm against his skin.

* * *

><p>Emmett was laughing.<p>

He was relishing the chance to destroy some newborns. Having only ever been a part of the Cullens, he was unused to the nomadic life and hadn't come across many others of his kind.

Edward glanced at him and then at his oldest brother. Jasper's face was set in harsh lines, scars blurred by the wind as they ran. They both knew what it was to kill, more than Emmett ever could, and it wasn't all that great.

They came to a standstill as the city lights came into view like a watercolor painting through the light rain. Edward threw his weight and hands backwards to balance out his momentum and skid to a stop. Emmett purposely slipped on a wet patch of grass, slamming into Edward and knocking them both to the ground. Edward rolled his eyes and got back to his feet, fighting a smile.

_Sorry, bro_, Emmett thought loudly, still grinning as he dusted himself off. _I've missed you_.

Edward patted his arm with a hollow thud as the three of them stood silently, facing Seattle. From his other side, Jasper tasted the emotions of masses, stretching them out along the framework of his mind to search for panic or fear. Edward made use of his gift as well, delving through inside his own head in an attempt to catch a newborn's thoughts. Emmett stayed quiet, watching them until Edward gave a sigh of frustration and sank to the ground. Pain was flickering at the edges of his mind. The scent of blood began to burn the skin from his throat.

"It's not possible," he said bitterly. "I couldn't get a proper reading."

_Too crowded. I know_. Jasper had encountered the same problem. In a place where so many people were thinking and feeling and just _living_ together, a single mind was impossible to pick out from the herd. It was a needle in the proverbial haystack, except the thoughts and the feelings had blended together in Edward's mind until it took a moment to remember who he was. Jasper, at least, was able to feel the emotions like a physical thing that was separate from his own, but Edward's mind had no boundaries. Mental processes weren't just audible to him – they became _his_.

"If you're done with the ESP, I'd like to go hunting," Emmett said, glancing from one to the other. Edward shrugged, getting to his feet, and Jasper turned to face them both.

Edward felt the weight of his blond brother's gaze. Without having to look, he knew what Jasper was asking. Their brother had never been exposed to a young vampire before. He was entirely unprepared. Newborns were alluring in the way of an undead child – uninhibited and uncontrolled. They represented all that a vampire was without a cold façade cultivated over the long centuries. They were free in expressing their violently fluctuating emotions.

"Emmett," he said. "Remember what a newborn's pheromones can do. Don't get caught off guard." Rosalie would hardly be forgiving of any indiscretions on her husband's part.

Jasper nodded at his words, then reached out to put a hand on each of their shoulders. "You need to remember this, both of you," he said severely, concern overriding Emmett's excitement and Edward's faint apathy even as he glared them down. "This is not a time for fun, and we will not be playing around. Emmett, no jokes or pranks. Edward, keep your head in the game." He sent them each a jolt of white hot fear, mind going back to his years as a soldier. "I want you to remember this feeling. Concentrate, okay?"

For a wild moment, Edward was struck by the similarities between themselves and the triumvirate of vampires in Volterra – three brothers, one with outstretched hands as Aro did in order to invade a person's mind. Jasper, he decided, would make a good leader. Even now he basked in the temporary role.

Emmett was grinning jovially. "You don't have to worry, man. We've fought before. Everything'll be fine."

They all heard the electronic whirs as the cell phone in Jasper's pocket received a message. The vampire read it quickly before looking up, his surprise swimming through Edward's head. "There's going to be an attack," Jasper said to Emmett, knowing that his mindreading brother would already have heard. "Not vampire. Human. You know, the usual – a woman walking alone, some sick pervert following her home. Alice says we'll be able to prevent it if we act accordingly." He looked at Edward then. Through the glossy sheen of rain that separated them, his eyes seemed to glow. "She said you'd know what to do."

Edward stayed quiet, remembering his years as a vigilante with a strange mix of horror and pleasure. This would be his darkest past all over again – the brutes stalking their prey, him watching them from the shadows.

And, as much as he was a monster for doing so, Edward was looking forward to the hunt.

* * *

><p>The streets of Seattle were barren and damp, neon lights from the shops reflecting out across the shiny asphalt and illuminating the large front windows. Edward felt his skin tingling in the low level electricity that flickered through the air. He was reflected in the windows across the street, a weirdly luminescent figure colored like stained glass. The odd lighting didn't help him appear any more human. Edward could only be thankful that few were out tonight in the cold and wet.<p>

He had come across a severed arm and three fingers in the alleyway two blocks over. The venom had seeped from the appendages and begun to eat through the pavement on which they lay. Edward disposed of them quickly in a small trashcan fire. He glanced up as a siren rang through the night, drilling a hole into his skull and sending faint vibrations against his skin. Hopefully, one of his brothers wasn't responsible for some human casualty. Jasper's control could be weak, but years in the military had improved his discipline. It was Emmett who was most at risk of succumbing, either to the attraction of human blood or a newborn vampire's strong appeal.

It wasn't that Emmett would consciously betray someone he loved, but the vampire was intensely hedonistic and often did not think through the consequences of his actions. Out of all of them, he was perhaps the most suited for vampirism. Accidental kills, the permanent sense memory of a corpse held in one's arms – all those inevitable horrors of their unlife didn't bother him at all. Sometimes Edward envied his ability to forget, to feel no guilt.

Edward shoved his hands in his pockets and resumed walking, breathing to detect the flavor of the air. The scent of humans, drugs, and a large amount of smog clogged up his lungs. A light breeze ruffled his hair and the vampire froze.

Newborn.

* * *

><p>Jacob thought he might be losing his mind.<p>

He'd gotten home from patrol to find his house empty and still. His dad was most likely at the Clearwaters' house, but usually one or two of his pack-mates could be found. Things were never so quiet.

Also, there was something tugging at his brain.

It was a funny sensation, like he'd forgotten something significant that was on the tip of his tongue. Jacob groaned and bashed his head on the wooden door frame, hearing the structure creak. It was something obvious, important. A duty for the pack? No, he was positive it was nothing like that. Homework? He hadn't been to school in months. Did his dad need him? No, that wasn't it.

What had he forgotten? He darted from room to room, finally coming to a stop by the old TV and catching his breath. The feeling wasn't changing. He was missing something, and he couldn't remember what.

Jacob's stomach grumbled and he rubbed the back of his neck, frowning. Food would probably help him think. Actually, food would just help altogether. Rejuvenated by the idea, he made his way to the kitchen and put together a sandwich from ham and cheese. He finished it in just three bites before spotting a pile of what looked like textbooks over by the fridge.

Jacob furrowed his brow. Those weren't his; he was sure of it. The werewolf flipped through the pages, giving himself a paper cut that stung and then healed in seconds. He stared.

On the inside cover of each book was Bella's name, written in her familiar scrawl. Had she come to visit? Why hadn't anyone told him? He could have taken the chance to explain that they could just be friends. Jacob cursed and shoved the textbooks away, feeling anger well up inside, coil hot and thick in his gut. He wanted to transform and run through the woods until the rage had worn off, but suddenly another feeling overwhelmed him. Desperation. Anticipation.

He was close – he could feel it. He was very, very close.

Jacob frantically fumbled through the textbooks until his fingers had closed around one with a sepia-colored photo of old ships on the cover. History. Why had he been looking for this? The pull hadn't subsided at all, had gotten so strong that he could barely breathe. Jacob opened the book and found something tucked inside at the halfway point. Barely aware of what he was doing, he flipped the paper over and suddenly it was all he could see.

There were three people in the photograph, but Jacob's eyes were glued to one. A boy in old-fashioned clothes with a familiar face and beautiful eyes. The photo was black and white, but Jacob saw through it as though the knowledge had been written into his DNA. He knew instinctively that the eyes would be a vivid, shocking green, the hair reddish brown, the cheeks pink and flushed with life. He was the same and he was not. It was a shock, quiet wonder making its way through every cell of Jacob's body – as if he'd lived his whole life in faded tones of grey and now knew color for the first time. As if his eyes had opened to see the world in all its brightness and clarity.

The boy had changed, but Jacob knew him. Had seen him almost every day for the past few months, had spoken to him and thought about him and learned his manners and his moods. And now his name was repeated a thousand times over in Jacob's mind, written into the walls of his skull, and his face painted over and over again in the space behind the Quileute's eyes.

Edward.

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><p><em>Reviews are the heroin of the fanfiction world.<em>


	8. Chapter 8

_Some mild inappropriateness, because. Also, why does it only snow once school's already out? The weather has to be sentient. And evil._

_Thank you to Michelle_ _and_ _jennej from PTB for being beautiful people and beta'ing this chapter._

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><p><span>Autumnal Equinox<span> – 1. the time that signals the end of the summer months and the beginning of winter; 2. when the sun passes the equator

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><p><strong>Chapter Eight<strong>

His pack-mates returned to find Emily and Jacob seated together at her kitchen table, his fingers clenched around a photograph. The wolves exchanged glances and crowded into the small room, bumping up against the counter and walls.

"Jacob," Sam began, "what's going on?" He looked at his fiancée. "Em, why aren't you in bed?"

Jacob leapt from his seat, practically bursting with excitement. "I imprinted, Sam," he said, smiling so widely that pain spread through his cheeks. "Man, I imprinted, it happened, I'm in love!"

"I…" The alpha took a look around the room, at the confused and faintly pleased expressions of his pack. "Great, Jacob. Who is it?"

Jacob paused, biting the inside of his cheek as he thought. "It's kind of weird," he admitted. "But no worse than yours, Sam, or Quil's!" Defensively, he said, "I won't have you insulting him, any of you."

Sam looked somewhat taken aback by the pronoun. "Jacob – who?"

"It's Edward Cullen." Jacob was unable to keep the grin from his face. He expected exclamations of shock, or even anger, but the Quileutes were surprisingly quiet, their faces contemplative.

"That might be interesting," Jared finally said. "I wouldn't mind having a bloodsucker around to fight."

Emily smiled and reached across the table to hold Jacob's hand. He looked up at her, for the first time almost anxious. "I'm happy for you, Jacob. Sam…" She looked warningly at him.

"Of course," the alpha said, his face stern. "We all are, Jacob. But I do need to ask you something."

"Okay, shoot." Jacob sat up in his chair. Sam leaned forward to look him straight in the eye.

"Does this mean you'll stop moping after Bella Swan? Will you stop being a liability and become a working member of the pack? I need every one of you, Jacob, and so far you haven't been doing a great job."

Jacob nodded, embarrassment flickering across his face. "I won't chase her anymore, Sam. I swear."

"Well, then." He shrugged. "It's not our place to control you, Jacob. Would you like me to – "

"Yeah, thanks," Jacob said, anticipating his alpha's next words. They filed out of the house, leaving Emily alone in the small kitchen as Sam locked the door behind them. Jacob stripped off his shorts and felt the wolf burst through his skin. He shivered in pleasure as his muscles stretched and released lactic acid into his bloodstream. The night suddenly looked brighter, smelled more sweet. God, it was beautiful. Jacob forced his wandering thoughts into gear and fixed his gaze on his alpha's imposing form.

The giant black wolf looked around at the circle of glowing eyes, huffing and pawing at the ground. When his stare met Jacob's, he thought, _Nobody in this pack will inform the Cullens of Jacob's imprint. Nobody will tell Edward Cullen, either by word or by thought_. Jacob whined, and the wolf nodded once before his next words traveled through their collective consciousness and burned themselves into their minds. _Jacob, you may tell him… when you are ready. _Letting go of his mental control, Sam phased back and sat down on the spongy ground, unashamedly naked. The rest followed his lead. They were all calm and relaxed after the change.

Paul narrowed his eyes, the smell of animal still wafting from his skin. "Why did we – wait, Cullen can read minds? What a freak" – Jacob glared – "-ishly cool talent," Paul finished awkwardly.

"Yeah. How did you not know that?" Jacob snapped, fighting the instinctive urge to bare his teeth. He was human, he reminded himself. It would look ridiculous.

"Not everyone's as obsessed with Cullen as you, Jacob. Come to think of it, you always have been. Should've seen this coming, huh?"

"I think it's great," Seth said stubbornly, pulling his knees up to his chin.

"But..." Leah spoke for the first time, her voice subdued. Jacob wasn't sure he wanted to look at her, to see what was probably pain in her eyes. She didn't like hearing about imprints. "But Sam, didn't Cullen go – " She broke off as Sam gave her a warning look.

Jacob leapt to his feet, any concern for the girl wiped away. "What is it? Sam! _Where did he go_?"

"They aren't home, Jacob," Sam said reluctantly, his eyes dark. "I'm sorry. They came to us, said he and his... _brothers_" – he smirked at the word – "were going to clean up Seattle if the threat is at an end."

Jacob didn't hear anything after that, just felt the change in air as he transformed back into a wolf and grabbed his jeans in his mouth. Distantly, he heard Sam bark an order and felt several pack minds join his own, following him to the city. He didn't particularly care what they did. His mind was focused to a sharpened point as he ran, the trees rushing past in a streak of green and the earth soft beneath his paws. His own thoughts – _faster, faster, can't let him get hurt_ – were all that he knew.

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><p>Edward had barely spun around when a hard form barreled into him, knocking him back into the side of the alley. He felt the bricks dislodge behind him and pain rocketed up his side as the figure crushed him against the wall. Edward could make out the twisted face of a young woman, maybe Esme's age in years. She had sharp cheekbones and a wide, flat nose, frizzy hair tucked into her shirt collar. Her eyes were bright and stained with blood.<p>

She was what Bella might one day be: beautiful and immortal and dead.

Edward shook himself out of his thoughts as the newborn screeched, her mind wild and feral, and drew back a fist to punch him in the gut. She wanted food, company, sex, death. She was entirely unhinged. Vampires' personalities were warped and twisted by the venom. The virus could turn the most morally-driven person into a sociopath, and newborns were fully psychotic. This one could not be reasoned with.

"Leslie," he said quietly, picking the vague memory of the girl's name out of her head. The newborn froze with shock. It was the first time she'd heard her own name in weeks. Crazily, she began plotting to tear out the strange boy's tongue after deciding that she liked the sound of his voice. She wanted it for herself.

Edward took advantage of her distraction, pushing off from the wall and kicking her legs out from beneath her. She gave a hoarse gasp and tore up a chunk of asphalt to fling at him in retaliation. Edward watched for a moment, fascinated, as the street stretched like play-doh beneath her strong hands. He easily avoided the missile and used the time she spent throwing it to leap on top of the girl, pinning her wrists to the ground and making impressions in the hard street like a child playing snow-angels. The newborn's face was inches from his own, red eyes glaring up at him.

Edward forced himself to smile soothingly at Leslie, her thoughts beating at the walls of his mind. Anger. Fear. Thirst. Carlisle had given very strict instructions before the brothers had left, and Jasper had echoed them. No newborns could be spared. The coven had room for no more.

The woman was still puzzling over Edward's unexpected closeness and his strange knowledge of her name. She mentally shrugged and craned her head upward for a kiss, deciding that it was as good a time for sex as any.

Edward closed his eyes and with his forearm, crushed her throat.

Her spine snapped with an earsplitting crack. Her thoughts went into a whirl of dizzy confusion as she realized that she could no longer move or feel her limbs. She was a predator turned prey, helpless in the face of what she perceived as a fiend sent by the Devil himself – a young boy with red-gold hair and fire-filled eyes. Lying prone on the ground, her vicious impulses faded and she began to drift.

Edward got to his feet, trying not to look at the body lying still and broken across the street. A group of drunks was stumbling down the sidewalk several blocks over, having been kicked out of a bar when one of them decided to strip. He could not afford to waste time. Edward gathered the once-human corpse in his arms and dumped it into a trash can, lighting a match and dropping it inside. Entirely numb, she would feel no pain. The flames blazed white-hot against the dark night. Even from several feet away, he could feel the slight burn of the heat against his skin. As always, Edward couldn't help but be slightly drawn to the fire as it licked at the air. It was instantly fatal, all the pain of the transformation along with the oblivion that his death had failed to provide. It could right what the venom had destroyed.

"Hey, Ed!"

His brother came bounding up the street looking as impeccable as he had before entering the city. Emmett miscalculated the speed of his run and bounced lightly off the brick wall before coming to a stop. He faced Edward, running a hand through his dark curls. Surprised amusement immediately overtook him. Edward saw his own disheveled appearance through his older brother's mind.

"I guess you didn't find any newborns, then?" he asked sullenly, clamping a lid on the can to extinguish the flames as the last of the newborn turned to ash. The sudden chill made him lightheaded as he got to his feet. A searing pain shot through his side and Edward winced, pressing a hand to his ribcage.

Emmett noticed the movement. His eyes narrowed in concern and he reached out to grab his younger brother's arm. "Hey, you okay?"

"Sure," Edward said coolly, knocking Emmett's hand aside. "Just some broken ribs, nothing really. That newborn got in a few hits." The vampire had been exceptionally strong, a month old at the most. She would have been one of the last additions to Victoria's child army of the undead. Edward would have to look her up, to see who was missing their family, their friend. To see what he could do.

Emmett lost interest in his brother, turning to the ashes of the newborn and sniffing once. A wide grin spread across his face and exposed nearly all of his knife-sharp teeth. They gleamed purple in the lights. "Man, she smells hot. Gotta love the vicious ones," he announced to no one in particular, turning to his youngest brother and affecting a look of faux surprise. "And you smell like sex. Got something you wanna tell me, bro?"

"Idiot," Edward said, but he was smiling. Emmett was the most good-natured monster he'd ever known. "We should find Jasper. See if he's – " He broke off as a new mind assaulted his own, thoughts blurred and smeared with alcohol. "Emmett…" he said warningly as a breeze wafted the enticing scent of human straight toward them.

Emmett shot upright, eyes wide and pupils dilated. "Is he coming – "

"Here," Edward confirmed, instinctively cocking his head at the smell. "This guy's a mean drunk, Emmett. I want to get rid of him." The bulky vampire turned to him, surprise written across his face. Edward backtracked quickly and cursed his Freudian slip. "Knock him unconscious so he can sleep it off, I mean. He shouldn't go home like this. He's got little kids." The hazy images of children in the man's head were thin and frightened looking. Edward clenched his fists.

The tall silhouettes of buildings, the dark sky, the smell of ashes and blood – all this reminded him painfully of his vigilante years. He could feel himself trying to slip back into old habits, into the mindset where it was all right to kill the wicked and the cruel. Even now, even decades later, Edward couldn't regret those kills. There was remorse. He had murdered, and that was a sin. But how could he have not? The human authorities proved useless when he tried to do things the right way. Too often they let true monsters slip through the cracks at the innocent's expense. How could it be better to just stand by, to watch humans be slaughtered and tortured by their own kind when he had the power to save lives?

Edward shook himself forcefully, trying to dislodge the thoughts. This road had led to his act of rebellion once before. It could not happen again. "Are you okay for this, Em?" The man was in sight now, a shoddily dressed, older gentleman with greasy skin and a packet of drugs in his front pocket. Edward could smell the marijuana from here, sickly sweet.

The vampires crept backward into the shadows of the buildings, watching the man pass. He was too drunk to notice the torn-up road and tripped over it, scraping the palm of one hand. Edward swallowed painfully as fire raged down his throat and his muscles began to ache. Beside him, Emmett growled.

He was thirsty. The man smelled good.

"Get out of the way!" Edward snarled, shoving his brother backward into the wall. Emmett landed in a crater, sending shards of brick spraying past his bulk, and Edward batted them away. "I'll handle this," he said, eyes trained on the human. The larger vampire slowly got to his feet. He was waiting for the right time to strike. "We aren't killing anyone today, Em. Now get _out_."

But Emmett didn't care, and Edward threw a frantic glance back. He couldn't fight him and deal with the human at the same time. Somebody would end up dead.

A welcome set of thoughts rose above the confusing babble of sleep-talk and drunken ramblings inside his head. Edward watched as Jasper came into view and assessed the situation at a glance. The blond vampire barreled straight to Emmett and pulled him easily into a headlock.

"Emmett," he said reprovingly. "For God's sake, control yourself. Your bloodlust isn't so bad." His thoughts swirled and solidified into a clear internal voice aimed for the mind reader. _He isn't even overwhelmed, Edward. Just thirsty._ Edward sighed in irritation. Emmett, more than any of them save perhaps Alice, relished his vampirism. He would go along with his sire's philosophy and adhere to the family diet, but viewed any slip-ups as inconsequential. And when he killed, there was no regret. No remorse.

Emmett stilled, grumbling, and Jasper's internal relief mixed with Edward's own. The human man had just begun to register the scene before him and shied away instinctively. The combined pheromones of the vampires made him dizzy and drugged. They appeared as angels in his mind, tall and glorious beings whose outlines wavered like candle flames, their shining pallor flat and depthless against the black night. Edward stepped forward and held the human in place with his gaze. He gently cupped his hand over the man's sticky mouth and nose, resisting the natural urge to crush his skull.

By the time Edward's patience had begun to run dry, the man was quiet and limp. Edward checked his pulse – normal – and left the drunk to sleep it off by the garbage bins. He returned to his brothers, wiping his now damp hand on his jeans with a grimace of disgust. Jasper broke off from scolding Emmett and gestured toward the trash bin containing the newborn's remains.

"Edward, was there just this one?"

Edward nodded. "I found some severed limbs up by Union Street, but Victoria seems to have cleaned up well. You?"

Jasper internally ran through the two young vampires he had hunted down and torn to bits. Only once had one managed to touch him. "I don't know why I'm always getting bit," he groused, rubbing the inflamed spot on his thigh. "I think the scars entice them or something."

"Maybe." Edward frowned. "Like a challenge?"

Emmett moved to tip over the tin garbage can and scattered the ashes across the damp street. He returned to his brothers and broke in, "The bigger question is why Edward smells like lust. He hiding something, Jazz?"

Edward rolled his eyes. "Newborns are in a perpetual state of arousal, Emmett."

"How you manage to make even sex sound nerdy is beyond me," Emmett said. "And that's not fair. I should've gotten the hot one, man. Rosie doesn't do rough."

Edward snickered. Talking with his brothers was wonderful in more ways than one. It was a relief to be around vampires, their minds and bodies as quick as his own. No longer did he have to pace himself so that humans could keep up. And Emmett could bring any conversation to incongruous topics in record time. "We know your sexual preferences all too well, Em."

"That's right," Jasper said, eyes glittering. The newborn that had bitten him had come from the part of Seattle that he'd allotted to Emmett. This was his revenge. "Why, just last night – _ooh_, _Rose_, _like that_," he mimicked. "Who does who, again?" Emmett snorted and wandered off, deciding to check over the area for eavesdropping humans. Jasper turned to his youngest brother. "I'm glad you came with us, kid," he said without preamble. "We've missed you."

"I know," Edward muttered, looking away. He had not been home much lately. "But Bella – "

"Asked you not to come tonight. Why did you?"

Edward was saved from answering as his cell phone buzzed. From the whirs of mechanisms inside the phone, they were able to hear the message without playing it. Alice was warning him to ready his playacting skills. The would-be rape was coming up, and with care Edward would be able to take the victim's place. In eight minutes, Ethan Macey would enter the nearest police station, distraught and ready to lead the officers to his unconscious attacker. Playing vigilante was almost easy with Alice's gift on his side. Edward grinned. "Jazz, you take Emmett and go home. I can handle this alone."

The older vampire looked up at the sky, and Edward followed suit. The stars beamed light down onto their faces, so overcrowded that there was no space between. The scene was as bright as day to them.

"This family functions as a team, Edward," Jasper said without warning, choosing his words with care. "If Bella Swan asks you to leave us for her, then maybe she isn't right for you at all."

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><p>Embry had told him twice now to slow down. Jake wasn't listening. He'd run in wolf form all the way to Seattle and ignored the sweat dripping down his now human back as he jogged through the streets. His grace was enough to keep him upright on the slippery asphalt even as more rain drizzled down.<p>

"Jake," Paul finally said, coming to a stop and leaning against a nearby lamppost. He stood panting with his hands on his knees. "We really need to stop, man. What're we doing here, exactly?"

Jacob crossed his arms and tapped his foot impatiently as he waited for his pack-mates to catch their breath. Run, he wanted to run, to save Edward from anything that might cross his path. "What we're _doing_ is keeping my imprint from harm." From harm and safe, forever, his.

"And that's gonna work how?" Embry knelt to double-knot his sneakers, craning his neck to look up as he spoke. He squinted as rain fell into his eyes. "We're in a city with no idea where to go. The vamps could've already left – we have no way to tell. And have you forgotten there could be _newborns_ around?"

Jacob bit his lip and glanced to his right, where Leah was nodding in agreement with Embry's words. He took a breath to respond, and something burned at his nasal passages like dry ice. His eyes widened.

"I think I smell leech," Paul said. Jacob was momentarily thrown to find that he wasn't upset by the epithet. He'd almost gone violent over Paul insulting Edward before, so why not – ? Paul was continuing, and Jacob forced himself to listen. "Hey, do you guys recognize – "

Something made Jacob turn around before he even heard Leah's soft gasp. The wolf in him was reacting to some outward disturbance, and the faint sense of danger at his back told him more than enough. Jacob scanned the softly-lit street, eyes coming to rest on a figure dressed in black and leaning against a brick wall. His skin was almost flushed, one hand pressed to his side and the other fiddling with a small silver phone. His bright hair shone under the streetlights. But all Jacob could see was his face – Edward's face, and the blood that was smeared across his cheek.

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><p>Jacob was across the street before he had taken a breath, nearly crashing into the startled vampire. Edward didn't seem to have noticed the wolves or heard their thoughts, his attention entirely on the cell phone he held. Jacob knocked it from the boy's hand and barely heard the metallic thud as it hit the wet ground. He cupped Edward's face in his hands like the most fragile of glass, tilted it upward to meet his own eyes and heard himself ask, with a slowly encroaching franticness, "Are you okay?"<p>

Edward stared at him, and there was something off about the vampire's face. _His eyes. No. What – ? _Jacob tried to wipe that disconcerting oddness from his mind, because Edward was hurt, Jacob had seen him wince, Edward _needed_ him. But then why – why couldn't he feel his imprint's pain, just that ever-growing feeling that something was very wrong? Jacob looked at the vampire, his face inches from his own, his skin cool against Jacob's warm palms. Edward was pale as always, his features flawless – _too_ perfect, pretty in the way of a china doll, his eyes an unnatural gold when they should have been green… And there was something marring that lovely face, a pervasive darkness – a _sadness_ – that had not been present in the photograph now carefully tucked in Jacob's back pocket.

"Jacob," Edward growled, shoving the Quileute so that he stumbled backward several feet. "I don't know what's wrong with you, but _stop touching me_." Jacob knew him well enough to see confusion and frustration behind the anger. His thoughts had been kept silent, then. Sam's edict had held up.

Jacob nodded numbly as his friends arrived. Paul glared at the vampire, and Embry watched him curiously. Leah just looked bored. Jacob didn't care what they thought of the scene. Everything was wrong, his world that had so recently become blinding and bright now crashing down at his feet.

This wasn't the Edward that Jacob loved – _loved_, and he thought that word in the safe quiet behind Sam's protective wall with an aching sense of rightness. The boy in the photograph had been beautiful, vibrant, _alive_. Had been human, nothing like the creature standing in front of him with rapidly darkening eyes and dead pale skin. It was as if he had been run through a scanner and printed out in black and white, the colors leeched from his body and soul.

Because Edward Cullen was a vampire, and Jacob could never love a monster.

Jacob put a hand on Embry's shoulder and spun him around, jerking his thumb in the direction of La Push. He was abruptly furious. "Let's go. I wouldn't be caught dead near this _freak_." In his peripheral vision, he couldn't help but see the hurt that flared up briefly on Cullen's face before he composed it.

The shifter stomped away and let the others catch up, turning back a few steps down the sidewalk to watch Edward dart away into the night.

"Wow, Jake," Embry said cautiously. "Way to make him love you, dude."

Edward's cell phone lay forgotten in a pool of light from the lamppost. A small part of Jacob's mind, one which had not yet caught up with the rest, wanted to go and scroll through the contacts and recent calls.

He walked forward and, with one heavy foot, smashed the phone to bits.

Jacob kicked the streetlight, the hard metal denting slightly beneath his foot. He was left with nothing but a dull ache in his toes. Sudden fury began to well inside of him, and he turned to kick the wall instead. Some dust from the bricks crumbled away. Cullen would have been strong enough to knock over the lamppost, to shatter the brick. _Freak_. He punched the wall this time and his knuckles barely bruised, wolf genes a thick coat of protection over his skin.

"Jacob!" Embry shouted several inches from his ear, pulling him back to the others. "Would you hold off on the temper tantrum and _talk_ to us, please?"

Leah crossed her arms and scowled. "Seriously, what the hell's wrong with you, jerk-ass? We wasted all this time for you, now explain!"

How could he make them understand? The rightness, the beauty that had been those few hours when he'd loved Edward with every fiber of his being, the gaping hole when that feeling had been wiped away as if it had never been. Jacob looked at her vacantly, gnawing on the inside of his cheek. It tasted like metal against his tongue. He wasn't sad, exactly, just – _empty_. Yearning for something that was no longer there, the magic not at work inside of him anymore. There was no one left for his wolf to crave. His imprint was dead and gone.

Jacob shrugged. "I was wrong. He's not my imprint."

"Are you sure? You might just be getting, like, cold feet," Paul ventured, an expression oddly like disappointment crossing his face. "We heard your thoughts, dude. They seemed pretty positive about Cullen there."

Not a Cullen. Never a Cullen. Jacob shook his head sharply. "It's not _him_."

"Who?" Leah asked, a hint of concern finally breaking through her uncaring mask. "Jacob, I don't understand."

"It's not him," Jacob repeated, staring past her into the darkness. Edward had disappeared into the night. Edward was gone. He shouldn't care. "I imprinted on the – on whoever Cullen was _before_ he became – him. On the human in that picture. Not – " He found himself unable to continue and shook his head again.

Embry's thick eyebrows met over the bridge of his nose. "But Jake, Edward Cullen _is _– "

"That's right," Jacob interrupted viciously, suddenly eager to get home and away from the sympathetic faces of his pack. "The vampire is all that's left. The person I imprinted on is dead."

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><p>Edward climbed the stairs to Carlisle's office, and the door swung open before he'd reached it.<p>

"Yes?" The blond vampire looked at him, eyes pale and cold. Edward watched his pseudo-father for a moment and then ran a hand through his hair.

"Carlisle," he said softly, "we need to talk."

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><p><em>Congratulations! You've made it past the first arc of the story. It's smooth sailing from here. Well, it isn't actually, but I've always wanted to say that. <em>

_As always, reviews are wonderful, wonderful things._


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